Core Courses

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TSU General Education Core Curriculum

The general education core curriculum is central to the intellectual mission of Texas Southern University. It is designed to equip students in each major field or concentration with a broad knowledge base and a set of college-level competencies to support lifelong learning and the attainment of their academic and career goals.

The Texas Common Core Curriculum ensures that undergraduate students enrolled in public institutions of higher education will develop the essential knowledge and skills for success in college, in a career, in their communities, and in life-long learning.

All undergraduates at Texas Southern University complete a 42-semester credit hour (SCH) program of core curriculum courses. The required components of the Texas Core Curriculum are courses in the Foundational Component Areas (FCA): Communication; Mathematics; Life and Physical Science; Language, Philosophy and Culture; Creative Arts; American History; Government/Political Science; and Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The goals of the core curriculum at Texas Southern University are to prepare students to examine their values; to become aware of the values, perspectives, and contributions of other individuals, groups, and cultures; to integrate knowledge, and to understand the interrelations of the scholarly disciplines. Students will accomplish these goals through intensive reading and frequent writing, critical analysis, computational, hands-on experiences, active discussion, and collaborative projects.

The core curriculum facilitates the transfer of lower-division course credit among public colleges, universities, and health-related institutions throughout the State of Texas. Students who successfully complete a 42-semester credit hour core curriculum at one institution can transfer “core complete” to another public Texas public institution without having to repeat any core curriculum courses. Students who transfer without completing the entire core curriculum receive credit for each of the core courses they successfully complete; however, courses may not satisfy the receiving institution’s core curriculum requirements.

CORE CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the core curriculum are to guide students to develop the following essential competencies:

• Critical Thinking Skills, which include creative thinking; innovation; inquiry; and analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of information.
• Communication Skills, which include effective development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral and visual communication.
• Empirical and Quantitative Skills, which include the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts resulting in informed conclusions.
• Teamwork, which includes the ability to consider different points of view and to work effectively with others to support a shared purpose or goal.
• Personal Responsibility, which includes the ability to connect choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making.
• Social Responsibility, which includes intercultural competence, knowledge of civic responsibility, and the ability to engage effectively in regional, national, and global communities.

CORE CURRICULUM COURSE LIST