core42

Background

Senate Bill 997 established the Higher Education Core Transfer Curriculum Act (Sections 178.785-789 RSMo), which directs the Coordinating Board for Higher Education to develop a standard core transfer curriculum and a common course numbering equivalency matrix for lower-division general education courses. The core transfer curriculum, known as CORE 42, is a framework for general education that all Missouri public two-and four-year institutions of higher education adopted effective for the 2018-2019 academic year. The goal of the CORE 42 is to facilitate the seamless transfer of academic credits. The completion of the CORE 42 at any public institution of higher education will transfer to every other public institution of higher education in the state and substitute for the receiving institution’s general education requirement. Individual courses that comprise the CORE 42 are guaranteed to transfer one-to-one among all public (and participating independent) colleges and universities in Missouri.

The framework for Missouri’s CORE 42 is designed for students to obtain the basic competencies of Valuing, Managing Information, Communicating, and Higher-Order Thinking through the completion of at least 42-semester hours distributed across the broad Knowledge Areas of Communications, Humanities & Fine Arts, Natural & Mathematical Sciences, and Social & Behavioral Sciences. Students obtain the competencies through completion of the CORE 42 in its entirety.

The following independent institutions have also signed on to the CORE 42:

Central Methodist University, Missouri Baptist University, Avila University, and Rockhurst University (beginning in the 2019-2020 academic year)
Logan University (beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year)
Lindenwood University (beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year)

CORE 42 Knowledge Areas and Distribution Requirements

Knowledge Area	Distribution Requirement
Social & Behavioral Sciences	Nine (9) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines, including at least one Civics course.**
Written Communications	Six (6) credit hours minimum.
Oral Communications	Three (3) credit hours minimum.
Natural Sciences	Seven (7) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines, including one course with a lab component.
Mathematical Sciences	Three (3) credit hours minimum. Mathematical Sciences courses that use one of the pathways courses as a prerequisite will meet the general education credit for math. For example, Calculus meets the general education math requirement since Pre-Calculus Algebra is a prerequisite.
Humanities & Fine Arts	Nine (9) credit hours minimum, from at least two (2) disciplines. There is a limit of three (3) credit hours of Performance (PERF) courses that can be applied to the Humanities & Fine Arts Knowledge Area and to the total CORE 42.

The number of hours listed above only total 37 credit hours. The remaining 5 credit hours may be taken from other MOTR courses, distributed across the knowledge areas.

**Note that the civics requirement in CORE 42 is different from and does not fulfill the requirements of RSMo 170.013, Missouri Higher Education Civics Achievement Examination.

CORE 42 News

1. The Core Curriculum Advisory Committee has added MOTR IDSE 102, Wellness for the Individual, which is comprised of learning outcomes from Natural Sciences and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Information about the new MOTR is found here.

Credits earned in an equivalent course will not apply to the minimum 37 credit hour requirements across the different Knowledge Areas, but instead will count towards the additional five credit electives required to meet 42 hours.

The moratorium on new MOTRS within the Knowledge Areas of Communications, Humanities and Fine Arts, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences is still in place.

The new MOTR has a minimum of two credit hours, but may have more.

It is anticipated that institutions will need to develop new courses or adapt existing courses to establish equivalency to this new MOTR and the approved learning outcomes. The deadline to submit a course for equivalency to this new MOTR will be extended to Friday, November 10, 2023 The deadline for other new course submissions will remain October 13.

2. Several MOTRS now have student learning outcomes. MOTRS with outcomes are included on the spreadsheet "List of MOTRs with Student Learning Outcomes and Notes," in the Resources section below. Institutions submitting a new course equivalency to a MOTR with learning outcomes should link the institutional course outcomes with the statewide MOTR outcomes. The Core Curriculum Advisory Committee will continue to develop the outcomes for the remaining MOTRS over the next several years.

3. Faculty members reviewing course equivalencies may watch a training video about the process here (or access it in the Resources section below).

Please contact Alicia Erickson at alicia.erickson@dhewd.mo.gov if you have questions about the submission and review timeline for AY 2024-2025.

4. Institutions submitting courses for equivalency to a MOTR no longer have to submit a supporting syllabus of any kind. Chief Academic Officers signing the submission form are asked to attest that the expected learning outcomes are consistent across all sections of the course taught at the institution. Updated forms reflecting this new language are linked in the Resources Section below.

Opens/Begins	Closed/Due By	Activity
April 17, 2023	October 13, 2023	Submission period for new courses, substantive changes to courses, and clerical corrections to courses.

Approved Course Databases

**Courses reviewed from the institution Saint Luke's College of Health Sciences have been reassigned to Rockhurst University

Resources

AY 24-25 Submission Forms

Form to Recommend an Institutional Course for Equivalency to a MOTR

Form to Make a Substantive Update to an Existing Course in CORE 42 (learning outcomes, description, MOTR number)

Form to make a Clerical Change to an Existing Course in CORE 42 (spelling errors, spacing errors, deletions, course title changes, other minor updates)

Guidance for Submitting Natural Sciences Courses for Core 42 Equivalency

Forms to submit a new mathematics course for equivalence to a MOTR.

The corresponding form must be submitted in addition to the institutional course submission form and will be reviewed for equivalency by the Missouri Math Pathways committee:

CORE 42 Framework and Knowledge Area Competencies (updated April 2021)

CORE 42 Matrix (Color-coded document)

CORE 42 Logo Color

CORE 42 Logo Grayscale

CORE 42 Overview and FAQ

List of MOTRs with student learning outcomes and notes (last update May 2023)

CORE 42 Faculty Reviewer Training Video