The educational framework aims to establish a cohesive and unified core, serving as a foundational base for all majors and minors. It enhances students’ opportunities to pursue double majors or minors, facilitates smoother transitions for transfer students and allows for timely graduation. The system emphasizes flexibility, enabling students to explore diverse electives or follow themed Pathways throughout their undergraduate journey. Additionally, it incorporates college-managed advanced education requirements tailored to individual student, curricular and professional demands, ensuring a comprehensive and progressive core education.
| AREA | HOURS REQUIRED | DETAILS |
|---|---|---|
| FOUNDATIONAL CORE | ||
| First-Year Compass Course | 2-5 | 1 hour (UA-wide requirement) 1-4 hour(s) (classes and hours are college-specific) |
| Written Composition | 3-6 | |
| Natural & Mathematical Science | 11 | 8 hours natural science w/ lab 3 hours math (110 or higher) |
| History Social & Behavioral Sciences | 9 (3 hours must be history) | |
| Humanities Literature Fine Arts World Languages | 9 (3 hours must be literature) | |
| UPPER-DIVISION CORE | ||
| U.S. & Global Citizenship | 3 | |
| Advanced Writing | 3 |
Legends 101
Legends 101 is a new course designed to introduce incoming UA students to the university's academic culture, sparking their intellectual curiosity and fostering their development as scholars and academic citizens. This course is mandatory for all first-year and first-time transfer students under the Built by Bama General Education plan, starting in fall 2025.
Core Designation Templates
Core curriculum classes must meet standards approved by Core Curriculum Oversight Committee for each of the core curriculum subject areas (i.e. social behavioral, history, literature, etc.).
The standards for each subject area are provided below as guidance to faculty and staff. Faculty wishing to propose a new core course, or classification of an existing course as a core course, need to refer to the detailed workflows to determine the path in their college to getting approval.
Curriculum Governance by Faculty
Legacy Core Curriculum
