The Elon Core Curriculum is the set of courses and experiences that are shared by every undergraduate. The curriculum complements your major, providing the liberal arts and sciences so important to Elon’s mission and so vital for globally engaged citizenship in a democratic society. It is an opportunity to explore ideas and expand your worldview. In the process, you will gain the lifelong benefits of complexity of thought, personal fulfillment, economic opportunity, and global awareness.

The hallmark of an Elon education is the Core Curriculum. These connected courses provide students with opportunities to study across disciplines, develop critical thinking skills, become effective communicators, and engage in transformative learning experiences. The outcome? Elon graduates are prepared for lives of meaning and careers in every field.

Connie Ledoux Book, President

Challenge Your Mind

Success in a rapidly changing, interconnected world requires the ability to think broadly, critically, and creatively across many disciplines.

Find Your Passion

Through a diversity of experiences, you will discover new opportunities – the beauty of the arts, the joy of culture, the excitement of discovery, and the fulfillment of caring about something bigger than yourself.

Make Your Way

Surveys of employers and graduate schools routinely show that career training is not enough for success in today’s complex world. The learning goals of the Core Curriculum reflect the same skills expected in the workplace such as critical thinking, research, and communication.

Engage Your World

The Core Curriculum is preparation for global citizenship and inspired leadership in the service of your community, country, and world.

The Elon Core Curriculum has six interrelated parts:

  1. First-Year Foundations
  2. Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR)
  3. World Languages
  4. Studies in the Arts and Sciences
  5. Advanced Studies
  6. Interdisciplinary Capstone

Beginning in the Fall of 2023, the teaching faculty have voted to add an Advancing Equity requirement (AER) to the Core Curriculum graduation requirements.  Students will complete a 4sh AER-designated course, which can come from the student’s major, minor, or other Core Curriculum courses.  Specific learning outcomes for AER-designated courses are:

  • Students will interrogate their own racial and other identities within cultural institutions and how those structures shape their realities.
  • Students will explain how the social construction of race and intersectional identities (i.e. gender, class, sexual identity, religion, etc.) are connected to systems and structures of US institutions.
  • Students will evaluate the historic, cultural, and societal causes of systemic and structural inequity.
  • Students will apply real and/or theoretical solutions to systemic racism and other forms of oppression including how historically marginalized groups advocate for self, resist oppression, and build solidarity.