Running head: CORE CURRUCULUM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Core Curriculum in Higher Education: An Analysis of Five Colleges and Universities

Megan Segoshi
Loyola University Chicago

Core Curriculum in Higher Education: An Analysis of Five Colleges and Universities

American colleges and universities typically require a core curriculum, also referred to as
general education requirements, which must be completed by undergraduate students as a degree
requirement. The core curricula of higher education institutions are generally developed in order
to provide students with foundational knowledge in a variety of different fields of study, to help
students choose a major or specialization, and to engage students in learning that will extend
beyond the university setting (University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009; Boston College,
2013). In examining the core curricula of various institutions, it is important to ask questions as
to their effectiveness and impact, including the benefits accorded to students after completing
them.
This paper examines, compares, and analyzes the core curricula required for graduation at
five colleges and universities: The University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass Amherst),
The City University of New York at Hunter (Hunter College), Fordham University (Fordham),

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Boston College, and Harvard College (Harvard). Like most American colleges and universities,
all five of these schools offer a core curriculum, or general education requirements, that must be
completed by all of their undergraduate students regardless of major. For the purposes of this
paper, I will examine only those requirements that are mandatory for students who enter as first
year students, since transfer student requirements can vary greatly depending on the school and
the individual student. In the following sections I will present each schools core curriculum. I
will then provide a comparison of these curricula, finally concluding with a thorough analysis.

The Core Curriculum

UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst requires a minimum of eleven courses. Two of these courses must be in
writing one introductory level, and one advanced level, taken within the students major. They
require one course each in basic math and analytical reasoning. Two courses are required in the
sciences one in biological sciences, and one in physical sciences. Four more social world
courses must be completed within the fields of social sciences, history, and fine arts. Two of the
courses must be designed as either a United States Diversity course or a Global Diversity course,
which can be combined with their social world courses (University of Massachusetts Amherst,
2009). Finally, each student must complete an integrative experience course. This course may
be an experiential learning or civic engagement class, or a capstone or portfolio project. These
requirements are typical of large public universities, spanning across various fields in the liberal
arts and sciences, designed to provide students with a basis of knowledge in each of these areas
and help them choose a major.
Unique to UMass Amhersts general education requirements is the integrative experience.
Their general education website acknowledges that between completing general education
courses, major requirements, electives, and extracurricular activities, the educational experience

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can become fragmented (University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009). The integrative

experience is intended to provide students with
a structured opportunity to look back on their early college learning
experiences, reflect upon and make connections between those earlier experiences
and the more advanced work in their major, and use their integrated learning to
prepare for the demands of the world beyond the University (University of
Massachusetts Amherst, 2009).
Hunter College
Like UMass Amherst, Hunter College is a large public university, and is part of the City
University System of New York (CUNY). Hunter College requires students to take two writing
courses, one biological or life science course, one scientific world course, and one math or
quantitative reasoning course. Hunter College also requires one course in creative expression, or
fine arts (Hunter College, 2015). Like UMass Amherst, Hunter College also requires one course
in United States Diversity, and one course in Global Diversity or World Cultures. Hunter
College describes its social sciences requirement as the individual in society, which requires
one course each in humanities and the social sciences (Hunter College, 2015).
Unlike any of the other colleges examined in this paper, Hunter College requires fourth
semester proficiency in a foreign language for all of its undergraduate students. This
requirement is unique to Hunter College even within the CUNY system, and separates it from
some of its other CUNY competitors (Hunter College, 2015). Like many other requirements,
though, some students may test out of foreign languages through AP tests or placement exams.
Fordham University
Fordhams liberal arts general education requirements are more extensive in comparison
to UMass Amherst and Hunter College. Fordham requires two courses in writing, one course
each in philosophy, faith and critical reason, literature, history, computational reasoning, social
sciences, fine arts, philosophical ethics, and theology. They require two courses in the natural

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sciences, and some courses in foreign language depending on the students placement and
proficiency (Fordham University, n.d.). Like UMass Amherst and Hunter College, Fordham also
has United States and Global Diversity requirements, referred to as American Pluralism and
Global Studies, which may be combined with other courses. Rounding out Fordhams core
curriculum are a values seminar and an interdisciplinary capstone, to be completed within the
junior or senior year (Fordham University, n.d.).
Fordhams emphasis on theology, critical reason, and philosophy are certainly unique to
its liberal arts core curriculum, and are a reflection of its identity as a Jesuit institution. Also
consistent with a Jesuit education, Fordhams checklist of requirements guides students
carefully through which courses they should take at each stage of their education, while the
previously examined universities simply stated that they just need to be completed by graduation
(Fordham University, n.d.).
Boston College
Boston College is the smallest school examined in this paper, and also offers the smallest
core curriculum of the five institutions. It requires one course each in fine arts, math, cultural
diversity, literature, and writing. Two courses are required in history, philosophy, social sciences,
natural sciences, and theology (Boston College, 2013). Like Fordham, Boston College is a Jesuit
university and emphasizes philosophy and theology in its core curriculum. It provides an
extensive history of the development of its core curriculum, and thoroughly integrates the Jesuit
tradition into its rationale (Boston College, 2013).
Harvard College
Harvard College, the undergraduate division of Harvard University, has by far the most
unique core curriculum explored in this paper. Harvards core curriculum consists of one course
each in aesthetic and interpretive understanding, culture and belief, empirical and mathematical
reasoning, ethical reasoning, science of living systems, societies of the world, and the United
States in the world (Harvard College, 2015). Although these topics are not necessarily unique in

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and of themselves, it is the courses that fulfill them that sets Harvard apart from the other
colleges and universities. Each course is designated as a general education requirement only;
that is, each course is designed specifically for the general education program, and doesnt also
serve as an introductory major course, as is the case at many other schools. The courses are
highly specialized and explicitly connect their content to real world, practical life experiences.
Examples of these courses are in the following section.
Like all of the other examined institutions except for Fordham, Harvard explains that all
of their general education courses should be completed by graduation. They suggest taking one
each semester, however, this is not required (Harvard College, 2015). The list of courses is
noticeably shorter than other institutions. This may be explained by the higher number of credits
attributed to each course at Harvard; with higher credit numbers, fewer actual courses are
required to attain graduation. Unlike other universities, Harvard does not have a writing
component in its general education courses, although it can be inferred that writing is an integral
part of the students education and is incorporated into their other courses.
Comparison
The colleges and universities examined in this paper all justify their core curricula by
explaining the importance of students gaining a diversity of knowledge, a well-rounded
education, and the ability to draw connections between various fields of study and the real world.
However, none of them are as explicit in making this connection as Harvard. This is readily
apparent in their general education course offerings. While most schools offer what is expected
(for example, intro to biology to complete a life sciences requirement, or intro to psychology
for a social sciences requirement), Harvards general education curriculum is clearly crafted to
engage students in a unique and practical learning experience. See Table 1 for examples of some
of their courses and the corresponding requirements they fill.
Table 1
Sample of Harvard General Education Requirements

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General Education Requirement

6
Course Title

Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding

Race, Gender, and Performance

Culture and Belief

Forbidden Romance in Modern China

Madness and Medicine: Themes in the

Empirical and Mathematical Reasoning

Science of Living Systems
Science of the Physical Universe

Societies of the World

United States in the World

History of Psychiatry
The History of the English Language
Analyzing Politics
The Art of Numbers
Understanding Darwinism
The Origins of Knowledge
What is Life? From Quarks to Consciousness
Science of Cooking: from Haute Cuisine to
Soft Matter Science
The Two Koreas
Human Trafficking, Slavery, and Abolition in
the Modern World
Men and Women in Public and Private: The
US in the 20th Century
American Food: A Global History
(Harvard College, 2015)

One identifier of engagement is the diversity offered within each requirement. As a lover of the
social sciences, I can easily find courses in empirical and mathematical reasoning in their
requirements that excite me. I hope that the opposite would also be true. Whereas, when I was a
student at UMass Amherst I could hardly find one science course, let alone two, that I found
interesting.
Analysis
It is important to note the differences between each of the schools core curricula by the
type of institution. While the large, public universities examined here offer similar requirements,
the two Jesuit institutions emphasize theology and philosophy. Harvard, a private, elite liberal
arts college, offers the most diverse and intriguing general education courses, and has an entire
program dedicated to them. While reading through Harvards course catalog initially made me

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wish to go back in time and do everything I could to get into Harvard as a first year student, I
then came to the more troubling realization that this exciting, unique, and engaging curriculum
was reserved only for those designated as elite. Knowing that being accepted to an Ivy League
university is a privilege most often afforded to legacy admits, the wealthy, and ergo the White,
future research should explore why it is that Harvard is able to offer such a diverse array of
general education courses and other universities are not. It seems as though the courses offered
at Harvard are not only tied to the students interests and lives, but are also so specific that they
likely cater to the interests and lives of the faculty, as well. In a less in-depth examination of
some other elite universities, including Stanford University and Princeton University, it appears
that other elite schools share programs similar to Harvards. Other elite schools like Amherst
College have eliminated their core curriculum entirely, in favor of allowing students to freely
explore fields that are unrelated to their major.
As explained by Fink (2003), a curriculum that interests and engages both students and
faculty, is more likely to lead to significant learning. Contrarily, faculty who are teaching
students who are not engaged or interested in the topic are probably less likely to be engaged
teachers, resulting in less learning (Fink, 2003). For example, when I was a first year student at
UMass Amherst I enrolled in a course called My DNA, a science course that fulfilled a general
education requirement for non-science majors. On the first day of class, the professor explained
that he knew that half of us would stop showing up and therefore over-enrolled the class, and that
course material would all be posted online so we didnt need to come. However, this wasnt an
online course. Essentially, his anticipation of disengaged learners made him a disengaged
professor, and lo and behold this course turned out to be my lowest grade in college. Harvards
core curriculum allows for professors to design courses based on their own interests and
expertise, thus engaging them from the beginning. Professors who are stuck teaching large,

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introductory lecture courses for which the syllabus is already set in stone have less agency in the
design of the course, and therefore in their students learning (Fink, 2003; Bransford, 1999).
Both UMass Amherst and Fordham required students to complete a capstone as a general
education requirement. At UMass Amherst this course is intended to serve as an integrated
learning experience that helps students reflect on the ways in which their learning, across their
entire UMass experience, has helped them develop knowledge and skills necessary in the real
world. Fordhams capstone experience, described as an interdisciplinary capstone, shares a
similar goal with UMass Amhersts capstone but is intended to integrate knowledge and learning
from two advanced disciplinary courses, and is overall less encompassing than UMass
Amhersts. However, both of these opportunities acknowledge the fragmented nature of general
education requirements and serve the purpose of engaging students in making meaning from
their education (Bransford, 1999). These culminating experiences align with what Bransford
(1999) would refer to as progressive formalization, or the deliberate painting of an overall
picture of the students education (p. 139).
Conclusion
In conclusion, most of the institutions of higher education examined in this paper set
forth a core curriculum with the goals of providing students with foundational knowledge and a
well-rounded education, and engaging them in their learning. However, with the exceptions of
Harvard, UMass Amherst, and Fordham, it is not clear how the courses offered to fulfill general
education requirements explicitly do so. Further in-depth analysis will be necessary to determine
the long-term utility, practicality, necessity, and impact of general education requirements.
Furthermore, it is important to note that without a comprehensive examination of curriculum that
includes an analysis of major requirements and extracurricular activities or requirements, no
finite determinations can be made about the merit of the core curricula offered by the schools in
this paper.

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The core curricula developed by these institutions are also likely to target the traditional
college-aged student who are enrolled in a four year, on-campus program. As colleges and
universities see changes in the type of students they enroll, though, curriculum should also shift
to engage this new population (Nilson, 2010). Should a 35-year old father of two who works full
time still be required to take a US History course for his degree in statistics? How necessary or
useful is this requirement for him? I believe that questions like this ought to be taken into
consideration as higher education enters into a new phase with different students, different
modes of teaching, and new challenges in engaging learners (Nilson, 2010).

References
Boston College. (2013, May 5). Core curriculum Boston College. Retrieved from
http://www.bc.edu/offices/avp/core/coure-courses.html
Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.) (1999). How People Learn: Brain,
Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Fink, L.D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to
developing college courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Fordham University. (n.d.). Core curriculum, Fordham University. Retrieved from

http://www.fordham.edu/info/20317/core_curriculum
Harvard College. (2015). Courses & program in general education. Retrieved from
http://www.generaleducation.fas.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?
keyword=k37826&tabgroupid=icb.tabgroup92169
Hunter College. (2015). CUNY Common core (CCCR). Retrieved from
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/academics/hunter-core-requirement/im-a-freshman-startingat-hunter-in-fall-2013-or-later
Nilson, L.B. (2010). Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
University of Massachusetts Amherst. (2009). UMass Amherst: General education. Retrieved
from http://www.umass.edu/gened/forStudents/indexForStudents.html