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TCU Core Curriculum

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TCU Core Curriculum

The TCU Core Curriculum requirements apply to first-year students matriculating at TCU in summer 2005 or later. Students who matriculated at TCU prior to summer 2005 are subject to the University Curriculum Requirements (UCR). Transfer students matriculating at TCU prior summer 2007 are also subject to the UCR.

The educational experience offered by TCU reflects its membership in the worldwide academy of learning. The intellectual traditions of the University, honed by the scholarship and creativity of successive generations of faculty, are founded upon a rational and reflective examination of humanity and its natural and social environments. The essential elements of these traditions are captured in the TCU Core Curriculum requirements.

The TCU Core Curriculum is designed to:

  • Embody the liberal arts ethos of TCU;

  • Facilitate a focus on educational competencies, learning outcomes and assessment;

  • Show sensitivity to the special needs of students in different schools/colleges and degree programs; and

  • Provide intellectual challenges and opportunities for students and faculty.

The University regards as essential the advancement and communication of general knowledge which enables students to understand the past, to comprehend the natural and social order, to search for the good and the beautiful, and to integrate knowledge into significant wholes.

The TCU Core Curriculum has three components:

  1. The Essential Competencies Curriculum (12 hours plus 6 hours Writing Emphasis);

  2. The Human Experiences and Endeavors Curriculum (27 hours); and

  3. The Heritage, Mission, Vision and Values Curriculum (18 hours).

All courses in the TCU Core Curriculum may overlay with other requirements of the student’s degree program. The overlay feature provides the flexibility for core requirements to be satisfied in a range between 39 and 63 hours.