Yeshiva University

This change marks the first major overhaul of the college’s curriculum since 1928. YC deans and faculty increasingly felt that the curriculum needed to be revised to keep in step with today’s ever-changing academic and professional landscape. In short, we are presenting a 21st-century curriculum to better prepare our students to choose a major, focus on more successful placements in graduate and professional schools, or embark on a career after graduation.

Students entering YC on or after April 2012. Current students are welcome and encouraged to take the specially designed core courses.

Absolutely. Please review the following sample academic programs below to see how this could be done even without AP credits or summer courses:

• History major/biology minor (PDF)
• Biology major (PDF)
• Psychology major (PDF)

The new core courses are specifically designed interdisciplinary courses in eight categories: 1) First-Year Writing (PDF); 2) First-Year Seminar (PDF); 3) Interpreting the Creative (PDF); 4) Contemporary World Cultures (PDF); 5) Cultures Over Time (PDF); 6) The Natural World (PDF); 7) Experimental and Quantitative Methods (PDF); and 8) Human Behavior and Social Institutions (PDF).

You choose one course from a list of five to six courses offered in each category. Science students, who take one or more years of college laboratory science courses and one or more years of college level mathematics courses, will be exempted from the Experimental and Quantitative Methods core category.

• There are fewer of them (from 12 to 8 courses), streamlining the general education requirements.
• They are interdisciplinary, introducing you to current topics and problems that are relevant to multiple fields rather than just one subject area.
• They help you to make an educated choice in selecting a major that best fits your interests and life pursuits, by exposing you to many different academic disciplines early during your undergraduate education.
• They expose you to disciplines related to your major. Whereas currently, physics majors can graduate without any chemistry or biology courses, the Natural World core category in the new curriculum will help you appreciate the interfacing of these scientific disciplines.

Yes. Some of the specially designed elementary and intermediate language courses at YC will fulfill the key elements of some of the core categories.

Currently, the following courses have been designed to satisfy the core categories listed above. More language courses are likely to be added to this list as they are developed.

• Elementary French II or Elementary Spanish II will satisfy the Contemporary World Cultures core requirement
• Intermediate French I or Intermediate Spanish I will satisfy the Cultures Over Time core requirement
• Intermediate French II or Intermediate Spanish II will satisfy the Interpreting the Creative core requirement

The new core requirements do not affect the Jewish Studies courses you will need to fulfill as part of your studies at YC. However, as a result of the streamlined schedule, you will now be able to take Hebrew and Bible before 3 p.m., and there will be more integration between those areas and your morning program, giving you more flexibility in creating your schedule.

You will still get credit for your AP courses and these will count toward the 128 credits required for graduation. However, while AP credits will count toward your major or minor or general elective credits, they will not satisfy any of the core requirements.

Yes. Please see “Transition to the YC New Curriculum” (PDF).

Yes. Please see “Option for Current Students to Follow the YC New Curriculum” (PDF).