CORE 42 meets general education requirements for liberal arts and sciences degrees
The Missouri Department of Higher Education has created a general education core curriculum that will improve the transfer of credit at the state’s public colleges and universities – saving students time and money as they work toward a degree.
The CORE 42 Transfer Curriculum is a block of at least 42 credit hours that will transfer as equivalent credit at all public colleges and universities in Missouri. More than 2,000 courses are included in the curriculum.
Approved Thursday by the Coordinating Board for Higher Education, the curriculum will prevent transfer students from having to retake general education courses they completed at another public higher education institution.
“CORE 42 will help ensure students receive credit for the courses they have completed when they transfer to another school, allowing them to stay on track to finish their degree,” said Zora Mulligan, Missouri commissioner of higher education.
Students who complete the CORE 42 curriculum will meet the general education requirements for most liberal arts and sciences degrees at all public higher education institutions in the state. General education requirements for some degrees – including education, engineering and nursing – differ due to professional licensing and other requirements.
To complete the curriculum, students must earn a minimum number of credit hours in five knowledge areas:
- Mathematical sciences – three credit hours
- Natural sciences – seven credit hours, including a course with a lab
- Humanities and fine arts – nine credit hours from at least two disciplines
- Social and behavioral sciences – nine credit hours, including a civics course
- Written and oral communications – nine credit hours (six in written communications and three in oral communications)
The CORE 42 curriculum will be implemented at the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year.
Legislation approved in 2016 called for the Department of Higher Education to create a core curriculum to improve the transfer of college credit. An advisory committee of faculty and staff from public colleges and universities across the state worked with the Department of Higher Education to develop the criteria for the curriculum.
For more information about the CORE 42 Transfer Curriculum, visit https://dhe.mo.gov/core42.php.