Core Curriculum Requirements

The best preparation for the demands of a diverse and global society is a comprehensive, wide-ranging background in the liberal arts and sciences, combined with in-depth knowledge of more than one field of study. To that end, the School of Arts & Sciences-Newark, with the cooperation of faculty from all of the campus' other schools, has redesigned the general education requirements for the campus to prepare students to successfully pursue a wide range of professional activities as well as to pursue graduate training. The Core Curriculum is organized around a set of concrete learning objectives that encompass the skills most needed for active citizenship and most valued by employers, such as the ability to think critically and creatively, to reason quantitatively, and to communicate effectively. Each Core Curriculum course is designed to ensure that students are conversant with the basic modes of inquiry specific to each of the core disciplinary foci of a liberal education. Through the Core Curriculum, students will emerge from their Rutgers-Newark education with the ability to apply their knowledge to the major questions of the 21st century. 

To ensure that every graduate has the opportunity to acquire a broad liberal arts education, the faculty has prescribed the following general curriculum requirements for all students, regardless of major field.

These requirements include:

Basic Writing Skills

Quantitative Reasoning

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

History and Literature

Courses may not be used to fulfill more than one distribution requirement, but a course used to fulfill a distribution requirement may generally also be used to fulfill a major or minor requirement. Any exceptions are noted in the description of the relevant major or minor curriculum.

For lists of courses certified as meeting each requirement, visit https://sasn.rutgers.edu/core-curriculum. These lists are also available in the Rutgers online degree audit system, which students use to track their progress in completing the Core Curriculum.