When they founded Anna Maria College in 1946, the Sisters of Saint Anne perpetuated the vision and aim of their own foundress, Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin, by offering the opportunities and advantages of education—in this case higher education—to those for whom it was then not easily accessible: women. The earliest statement of their purpose declares that the “College offers a liberal education planned: to elevate the heart through love; to enlighten the intellect in truth; to strengthen the will in good.” In this declaration is summed up the entire Catholic tradition in education.

Anna Maria recognizes that intellectual development is inseparable from character development and ethical decision making and seeks to prepare students to be citizens of a global community with a goal of constructing a more just and peaceful world. The General Education curriculum is mission consistent, provides a developmental four-year sequence, and is defined as both the foundation and framework of undergraduate education at Anna Maria. Emphasis is placed on interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge and skills while integrating the Catholic identity of the institution throughout the curriculum.

The General Education requirements, together with major requirements at Anna Maria, embody the mission of the College, seeking to foster in its students’ intellectual involvement, career preparation, social awareness, dedication to peace and justice, religious and moral sensitivity, a lifestyle capable of sustaining these within balance, nurturing development of a sense of respect for oneself and others, and nurturing a sense of responsibility to society and the world. Learning goals for the General Education are directly derived from this mission and are identified as:

• Critical and integrated thinking
• Oral, written, and technological literacy
• Quantitative reasoning
• Conversational proficiency in a foreign language
• Moral reasoning and problem solving
• Historical evolution of human societies and institutions
• Nature and scope of scientific inquiry
• Aesthetic, moral, and spiritual dimensions of human thought and action
• Self-understanding and understanding of others
• Civic and social responsibility