The General Requirement requires each student in the College to take a total of ten courses: two in each of Sectors I, II and III; one in each of Sectors IV, V and VI; and one additional course either in Sector IV, V or VI or in Sector VII.

In Sectors I, II, and III, students may substitute one Distributional course for one of the two General Requirement courses. This allows students greater flexibility in pursuing more advanced work within or outside of their majors. However, one course in each of these Sectors must always be a General Requirement course.

In order to meet the General Requirement's objective of introducing students to a variety of disciplines while they are still choosing their majors, at least six courses satisfying the General Requirement should be completed in the first two years of study, unless this is precluded by a student's major requirements. These six courses should include at least one General Requirement course in each of Sectors I, II, III, IV, V and VI.

Freshman Seminars count as General Requirement courses only when they are specific equivalents of General Requirement courses and are explicitly labeled as such. Other Freshman Seminars may be labeled as Distributional courses in Sectors I, II or III.

Courses that satisfy the Writing Requirement cannot also be used to satisfy any sector of the General Requirement.

All ten courses taken to satisfy the General Requirement must be taken for a letter grade, not pass/fail.

Advanced Placement credits, transfer credits, and study abroad courses can be counted toward the General Requirement only when departments certify that they are equivalent to specific courses at Penn (either specific General Requirement courses or specific Distributional courses). Credits not equated with specific courses at Penn can be given Free Credit and used toward majors or the free elective requirement, but cannot be used toward the General Requirement.

Courses may be used to satisfy both the General Requirement and the requirements of a major without restriction, but where courses are so used, additional Free Electives may be needed to attain the number of courses required to graduate.

Non-College courses approved for the General Requirement are counted as College courses in calculating total credits needed for graduation.