At UW Tacoma, we have designed our Core curriculum to be an intellectually stimulating experience that will help students make connections within their learning community and between academic disciplines.

First-year students take courses as part of a close-knit community of students — a cohort — who take their first-year Core courses together. In the Core curriculum's small learning community, students truly get to know their professors and classmates. Our Core courses promote an interdisciplinary approach to learning that deepens student understanding of the world and how it works.

The Core is a series of courses designed to help students develop critical thinking and writing skills as well as understanding of a wide variety of subjects. Students may earn credit in art and economics one quarter, history and sociology the next. Discussion, lectures, reading, writing and projects help first-year students engage topics in ways that broaden their perspective and encourage inquiry.

First-year students may also take TCORE 100, a 2-credit course designed to assist students in preparing for academic writing at the college level.

In addition to registering for your core classes, full-time students also choose electives. As part of the Core learning community, academic advisors assist students in educational planning. That includes identifying prerequisites — such as science and math courses — that must be taken prior to application to a major. Academic advisors also help students find academic and co-curricular support they may need as they adjust to college life.

Core Program

Core Program

The Core program prepares students for success at the upper division level by focusing on campus-wide learning goals: communication and self-expression, civic engagement, critical inquiry, global perspectives, diverse cultural views and the ability to solve problems.  The program is a coordinated series of courses representing the various disciplines in the university.  Students take four courses that fulfill a portion of the university's general education requirements, one course in each of the three areas of knowledge plus Composition.  

The courses are designed to challenge first-year students to develop critical thinking, writing, research and analytical skills while they engage socially relevant topics.  Students participating in the Core program are part of a learning community that involves students, faculty and staff.  Each Core class is capped at 25 students, and Composition courses are capped at 20.  The small class sizes foster a sense of community and engaged learning.  Students complete the Core requirements over the course of their first year (Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters).
 

Core Student Learning Goals

Core Student Learning Goals

Inquiry and Critical Thinking

  • inquiry & problem solving: collect, evaluate, and analyze information and resources to solve problems or answer questions.
  • research methods & application: approach complex issues by taking a large question and breaking it down into manageable pieces.
  • synthesis & context: make meaningful connections among assignments and readings in order to develop a sense of the ‘big picture.’

Communication/Self-Expression

  • argumentation: formulate an original thesis-driven argument and sustain it in both written and verbal communication.
  • analysis: identify, analyze, and summarize/represent the key elements of a text.
  • disciplinary awareness: enter/place themselves into an existing dialogue (intellectual, political, etc.).
  • expression of ideas: express ideas clearly in writing and speaking in order to synthesize and evaluate information before presenting it.

Global Perspective-Diversity-Civic Engagement

  • disciplinary perspective: understand events and processes as ‘disciplinarily’ situated.
  • global perspective: interact with concepts, ideas, and processes related to the interdependences between personal, local, and global relationships.
  • diversity: think outside of cultural norms and values, including their own perspectives, to critically engage the larger world.
  • civic engagement: interact with concepts, ideas, and processes related to civic engagement.

Quantitative Literacy

  • Use quantitative evidence (including statistics, graphs, etc.) in support of an argument.
  • Analyze and evaluate a chart or graph and interpret it (through discussion, a written assignment, etc.)
  • Find quantitative data to support an argument.
General Education Requirements

Minimum General Education Requirements

  • 15 credits in writing to include no fewer than 5 credits in English composition [C] and 10 additional credits in writing-intensive [W] courses
  • 5 credits in Reasoning [RSN] (Students enrolled in college prior to 1985 are exempt from this requirement.)
  • 5 credits (min) in diversity coursework (For students admitted as of Autumn 2023.)
  • 40 credits of Areas of Inquiry [AoI] courses including no fewer than 10 credits in each area of study:

    Arts and Humanities [A&H]

    Social Sciences [SSc]

    Natural Sciences [NSc]

Arts and Humanities [A&H]

The intent of this requirement is for students to become familiar with the methodologies, contributions, and limitations of artistic and humanistic inquiry, broadly defined. (Updated Winter Quarter 2023)

Social Sciences [SSc]

The intent of this requirement is for students to become familiar with the methodologies, contributions, and limitations of social science inquiry, broadly defined. (Updated Winter Quarter 2023)

The Natural Sciences [NSc]

The intent of this requirement is for students to become familiar with the methodologies, contributions, and limitations of natural science inquiry, broadly defined. (Updated Winter Quarter 2023)

Diversity [DIV]

Courses that meet the Diversity (DIV) requirement study diversity in the United States with focus on the sociocultural, political, and/or economic diversity of the human experience and help students develop an understanding of the complexities of living in increasingly diverse and interconnected societies.

Additional Requirement

  • World Language Admission Deficiency: World Language Admission Deficiency. If admitted with an admission deficiency in world language, this must be completed prior to graduation. This may be satisfied with two years of a single language in high school, completion of college-level coursework through 102, or by proficiency exam or CLEP.

More information on general university graduation requirements for undergraduate students.

 

Courses

Courses

Core Course Schedule with Descriptions

Core Course Schedule with Descriptions

THE CORE PROGRAM at UW TACOMA   

The Core Program prepares students for success at the upper division level by focusing on campus-wide learning goals: communication and self-expression, civic engagement, critical inquiry, global perspectives, diverse cultural views and the ability to solve problems. This program is a coordinated series of courses representing the various disciplines in the university. You will take four courses that fulfill a portion of the university's general education requirements. The courses are designed to challenge you to develop critical thinking, writing, research and analytical skills. Each CORE class is capped at 25 students, and Composition courses are capped at 20. The small class size fosters a sense of community and engaged learning. See your advisor to enroll in these courses. 

Descriptions from past quarters: 

Current course titles and descriptions are available in the note section of the TCORE Time Schedule. 

Declaring a major

Declaring a major

If you have not yet applied to a major — For example psychology, communications, business administration or social welfare — you are considered an undeclared student. Undeclared students can be first-year students, sophomores, juniors or — in very rare instances — seniors.

As an undeclared student, you can learn more about academic advising on the University Academic Advising Center website.  While most students declare a major by the end of their second year, it is also normal for students to change their major several times before graduation. UW Tacoma has many majors to choose from. Some majors are capacity-constrained — there are only a certain number of seats available and students need to apply — others don't require prerequisites.