Core Curriculum

Overview of the Core

What is the Undergraduate Core Curriculum?

The ideal of the core curriculum at Ashland University, consistent with that of the liberal arts, involves the development of the wise person. This requires certain competencies, which in turn require a curriculum with certain essential components. These components in turn require a variety of teaching formats to develop those essential competencies.

In general any core curriculum seeks to get students to be able “to think.” Suffice it to say, “to think” is to not merely do one kind of thing, but a variety of different things, the most important of which find representation in the core, understood as modes of inquiry. All Ashland students eventually designate a major in a specialized discipline, but the core should be thought of as the undergraduate common major of the university. All undergraduate students have to take 44 credit hours across a variety of areas to satisfy the requirements of the Undergraduate Core Curriculum.