Both domestic and foreign universities offer arts courses as part of the general education curriculum. This alone reveals the value of arts courses in a university general education. Further, a general education art curriculum has certain functions within a university. In this article, I explore these functions. For this reason, the method of literature analysis is used by the author. First, this article explores the objective of general education in universities. Second, the necessity of arts courses for a general education curriculum in a university is discussed. Third and finally, this article examines the functions of a general education art curriculum in universities. According to the results, the functions are as follows: (1) cultivating the aesthetic subject consciousness of students; (2) cultivating the knowledge and humanity of students; (3) enhancing the aesthetic ability of students, and helping students understand local traditional arts; (4) promoting students' diverse abilities; (5) equipping students with the competence of artistic thinking, including knowledge integration and expression; and (6) cultivating broad worldviews and humanistic caring among students.