Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B623, 212.217.4320
Every degree program at FIT has at its core a required, comprehensive liberal arts curriculum, taught by the faculty of the college’s School of Liberal Arts. Education in the liberal arts develops students’ critical thinking and communications skills, provides them with a diverse and global perspective, and nurtures interests that can enrich and inform their professional and personal lives.
The School of Liberal Arts also administers the liberal arts minors, FIT’s Presidential Scholars honors program, the Film and Media AAS program, the Film and Media BS program, and the Art History and Museum Professions BS program.
Presidential Scholars
Business and Liberal Arts Center, Room B602, 212.217.4590
Presidential Scholars is FIT’s honors program, providing motivated and gifted students the opportunity to take part in specially designed liberal arts courses, interdisciplinary group projects, monthly colloquia, and extracurricular activities—arts performances, cultural institution visits, and outdoor adventures—that use the entire landscape of New York City as an extended campus. Presidential Scholars receive an annual merit stipend and are afforded priority registration.
Students must complete a separate application for the Presidential Scholars program. For the associate-level program, competitive admission is based on class rank, high school GPA, and SAT scores. For the baccalaureate-level program, students must have a GPA of 3.5. Information about and applications for the Presidential Scholars program can be found on the program's website.
Liberal Arts Departments
The Educational Skills Department (ES) offers courses in English as a second language and college-level preparation in reading and writing. The department also supervises the Academic Skills Tutoring Center and administers academic placement tests.
The English and Communication Studies Department (EN) offers courses in literature, speech, writing and creative writing.
The Film, Media and Performing Arts Department offers courses in film (FI), music (MU), health education (HE), and dance and physical education (PE), including individual and team activities.
The History of Art and Civilization Department (HA) offers a variety of history of art and civilization courses representing both Western and non-Western cultures. It also administers the interdisciplinary Art History and Museum Professions BS program.
The Modern Languages and Cultures Department offers courses in Arabic (AB), French (FR), Italian (IT), Japanese (JA), Mandarin Chinese (CH), Portuguese (PO), and Spanish (SP).
The Science and Mathematics Department offers courses in biology and physical science (SC) and mathematics (MA).
The Social Sciences Department offers courses in six disciplines: economics (SS), history (HI), political science (SS), psychology (SS), sociology (SS), and philosophy (PL).
Liberal Arts Requirements for Associate Degree Students
All students are required to submit SAT/ACT scores in order to be placed at the appropriate course level. Based upon placement test scores, some students are required to take developmental courses in Educational Skills (ES) or mathematics (MA) in addition to the general requirements listed below. For placement test exemption information, see Requirements for Degree Completion or visit fitnyc.edu/placementtests .
All two-year AAS degree students must complete a total of at least 24 general education/liberal arts credits. Some majors require specific courses within these general requirements. Please refer to the specific major page, in the Degree Programs section of this catalog, for more information.
General Education Exemptions: An earned bachelor's degree or equivalent from an accredited four-year institution (U.S. or international) may exempt a student from all of the above liberal arts/general education requirements except 3 credits of English Composition (G1; Composition taken in the U.S. or in a country in which English is an official language); and for Art and Design majors, 6 credits of Art History.
Liberal Arts Requirements for Baccalaureate Degree Students
Liberal arts requirements for bachelor’s degree students may vary by major. Refer to the specific major’s page in the Degree Programs section of this catalog for more information.