Faculty at five universities, three public and two private, participated in this cross-sectional, comparative study. In addition to determining the overall faculty perception of the general education curriculum (GEC), this research determined whether there were statistically significant differences in faculty perceptions of the GEC comparing five academic areas. The academic areas were arts and letters, business, education, health sciences, and STEM. An online survey utilized Likert questions to determine faculty perceptions of three curricular components of the GEC that were found at all five universities. The dependent variables in this study were faculty perceptions of the GEC curricular components oral communication, written communication, and information literacy. Using the academic areas as the independent variables, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in faculty perceptions of the GEC with reference to the three curricular components. The MANOVA data indicated there was not a statistically significant difference using "Wilks' lambda" = 0.917, F(15,602) = 1.29, p = 0.205. The mean results for specific skills did indicate areas of the GEC that may need further assessment. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]