We Want You to Succeed

Be sure to follow the tips below to prepare for the advising and registration process.

Ultimately, you are responsible to know the requirements of the academic curriculum to complete your program. Your advisor can be a tremendous resource in the process.

What to bring to your advising session:

• Tentative schedule of classes you would like to take, keeping in mind core requirements and requirements of your major (If you are undeclared in your major, you will want to select only core courses. If you have one or more majors in mind, keep in mind the required cores for these majors when making your selection)
• List of alternate courses in the event that first choice classes close before you register
• Marywood University Catalog, preferably from your freshman year
• Information on your personal schedule - work hours, athletics etc.
• Any questions or concerns about coursework, academic and career plans, internships
• Field placement information for all students with education component

Things to do before your advising session:

	Review the curriculum guide of courses you have already taken found on the MarywoodYOU portal.
	Review the Undergraduate Department course sequence for your major program of study. If you are undeclared in your major, review the core requirements. Keep in mind possible majors you are considering.
	Draw up a tentative schedule of classes for the semester. Include both core and major courses if appropriate.
	Review the Marywood University catalog, especially prerequisites and descriptions for courses.
	Check the Marywood University Registrar website to see what courses have closed.

Students are expected to be familiar with academic policies and procedures, graduation requirements, and course restrictions as printed in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Each Marywood University student is assigned an academic advisor to provide information and guidance in selecting, planning and completing their academic program. The adviser helps the advisee to understand the relationships among the courses, programs, undergraduate research opportunities, internships, study abroad programs, and other academic experiences provided by the university. Here are some dos and don'ts for a successful advising experience.

Do

• Take advantage of the opportunity to talk with your advisor even though you've talked with friends.
• Share information about educational and career goals. Report any problems & talk about important successes or failures. Your advisor needs this information to help you.
• Keep your own personal records about questions or concerns,including grades, special actions, etc., and bring them with you when you see your advisor.
• Be assertive. Ask questions. Acquire the information you need to take final responsibility for course scheduling, program planning, and the successful completion of all graduation requirements.
• Keep your own notes. Remind your advisor of what you talked about at your last meeting.
• Take responsibility for reading about those rules and requirements which affect you. Most of them are published in the university and department handbooks.
• Prepare ahead of time by reviewing the master schedule of classes, reviewing requirements and giving careful consideration to questions you have about academic and career plans
• Become knowledgeable about the relevant policies, procedures, and rules of the university and your academic program. Ultimately, you have the responsibility of know the requirements to successfully complete your academic degree at Marywood University.

Don't

• Come to advising sessions unprepared.
• Avoid academic advisement as long as possible.
• Wait until registration periods to see your advisor.
• Mislead or withhold information from your advisor.
• Assume your advisor has all of your records.
• Assume your advisor will tell you automatically everything you need to know.
• Assume your advisor will remember what you talked about from one appointment to the next.
• Assume that only your advisor needs to be familiar with the university rules and regulations.

Selecting a course of study is a "major" decision and can cause much anxiety for college students, but the good news is that there are people you can talk with and specific things you can do that will help you make career and academic choices.

Here are a few tips for specific actions that you can take to make your decision.

• Review your curriculum map
• Visit the Career Services Office to research career options.
• Talk with a staff member in the Office of Academic Success
• Talk with faculty and students currently enrolled in programs you are considering. 
• Talk with people currently working in the field you are considering.
• Gain experience through career shadowing, volunteering, part-time positions and internships.

Web Sites

• Occupational Outlook Handbook

With your goals in mind, use the following resources can help to answer questions about academic advising and to make the most of academic advising sessions:

• Registrar's Office
• Career Services 
• Graduate Catalog
• Tutoring Center
• Writing Center

Graduate courses can be taken for enrichment purposes. Students can take between six to nine credits for enrichment purposes depending on the department.

Students who wish to take graduate courses for enrichment should review the graduate catalog to determine which courses are best to take.

It is important to note that taking enrichment courses does not guarantee acceptance into a graduate program. Also, students taking courses for enrichment purposes are not eligible for financial aid.

If you would like to register for graduate courses for enrichment, please call (570) 340-6043.

*These Core Requirements only apply to students that have matriculated Fall 2024* 

See Core Curriculum Records for requirements prior to Fall 2024

The Core Curriculum is composed of 40-42 credits, organized into five distinct categories or “themes.” 

Category One “Foundations” courses should be completed by year 2. Courses in Categories 2-5 can be taken concurrently or in any order provided any pre-requisites are satisfied. 

While students can choose from a number of course options to satisfy requirements for Categories 2-5, all students are advised to check the current curriculum map for their program to verify if there are any program-required Core courses or semesters that specific Core courses must be taken. 

All courses offered in a category must address at least one designated student learning outcome. 

Core Categories

1. Foundations of Applied Liberal Arts - 12 credits

2. Communication: Written & Oral - 6 credits

3. Arts & Culture - 9 credits

4. Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning - 6-7 credits

5. Values, Ethics, & Perspectives - 6-9 credits

DOWNLOADABLE PDF

The Liberal Arts core is organized into five categories:

Category 1: Foundations of Applied Liberal Arts

Foundations courses prepare students to engage in college-level inquiry through practice in academic writing, critical thinking, examination of ethical issues, and immersion in a language and cultures different from their own. Students will also explore various belief systems and traditions. 

Category 2: Written and Oral Communication

Communication courses build upon the skills students develop in Foundations courses. Students gain valuable practice and competency in spoken/oral presentation skills, opportunities to enhance their written work with technology (such as visual or digital media) so that they can effectively articulate and express their ideas, arguments, and positions across a variety of professional and social contexts. Students also hone their academic writing skills through a second course in English writing or a discipline-focused writing course. 

Category 3: Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture courses engage students in the artistic, social, political, and historic contributions of numerous cultures, movements, and forms of human expression around the globe. Students hone skills that are widely applicable across professions, such as: critical and creative thinking, an understanding of aesthetics and artistic expression, the ability to analyze various works, texts, documents, media, and other cultural artifacts, and problem-solving in order to create new ideas or concepts, and the ability to apply insights and inspiration to real-world scenarios. 

Category 4: Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning

Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning courses develop competency in data analysis, numerical problem-solving, forming and testing hypotheses, and interpreting results. Further, scientific and quantitative concepts can be applied to disparate areas of knowledge, in order to evaluate or critique scientific and numerical claims, methods used, and conclusions offered.  

Category 5: Values, Ethics, & Perspectives

Perspectives courses deepen students’ understanding of complex societal issues through exposure to a wide variety of disciplines and topics that explore the appreciation of differences, unmet human needs, social justice work, and the empowerment of others. Moreover, they foster students’ capacity for empathy and reflection and ability to create personal and professional meaning in their lives and careers. 

Core Attribute Courses

Core Attributes are competencies that all students are expected to encounter and develop through the course of completing their Core and program requirements and may be delivered by any course or discipline. Therefore, they do not require additional courses or credits to be taken. Rather, over the course of their study, students should choose at least one attribute-designated Core or major course:

Information & Digital Literacy (IDL)

Courses with a IL designation teach students how to identify and analyze information sources and types, emphasizing issues of bias, perspective, credibility, and authority in research, professional, and personal contexts. Students learn and use a variety of research tools and resources in order to locate, evaluate, verify, and use information effectively and ethically. 

As a result of their courses in the core curriculum, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate an awareness of and respect for the religious, spiritual, and moral dimensions of life;
2. Develop a critical awareness of the whole self, as well as an understanding of the complexities of human persons in historical and social contexts;
3. Develop and evaluate thinking through quantitative, qualitative, and scientific reasoning; problem solving; and research;
4. Respond justly and with empathy to social inequity – local, regional, and global;
5. Demonstrate effective communication skills, including skills in a second language at an appropriate level;
6. Develop an aesthetic appreciation and critical understanding of the visual and performing arts and their cultural importance.

In the spring of 2024, the Core Curriculum committee approved a new curriculum that addresses 12 distinct learning outcomes that develop competencies in essential and widely-applicable skills grounded in Marywood’s Mission and Core Values. 

In the spring of 2025, the Academic Council voted to adopt the Core Curriculum learning outcomes as university-wide outcomes that would be assessed primarily within the core curriculum but reinforced throughout the disciplines as well as in co-curricular pursuits. 

Within the context of the university-wide outcomes, graduate programs emphasize  outcomes in their own disciplinary framework. 

Core Outcomes were developed from the nationally recognized LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes, The Middle States Commission on Higher Education's general education standards, and the credit requirements of the PA Department of Education and are regularly assessed.

• Written Communication: the ability to develop and express one's ideas in writing for a variety of purposes, audiences, and across a multitude of genres, styles, and modalities.
• Oral Communication: the ability to deliver prepared, purposeful speech that increases knowledge, fosters understanding, or promotes change in listeners’ attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.
• Intercultural & Global Competency: skills that support effective engagement, interaction, and exchange of ideas across cultural and social contexts beyond one’s own.
• Interfaith Literacy: the ability to identify, examine, and articulate one’s own values and beliefs, as well as to engage in respectful cooperation and dialogue with others.
• Ethical Reasoning: the ability to recognize, understand, and describe ethical problems and arguments in order to formulate one’s own perspectives about right and wrong human conduct and apply ethical decision-making skills to real-world dilemmas.
• Scientific Reasoning: The ability to apply scientific methods to understand the natural world, to identify scientific aspects of daily life, and to evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of its source and the methods used for its generation.
• Quantitative Reasoning: the ability to reason and solve quantitative problems in authentic contexts and everyday life situations, support arguments using quantitative evidence, and communicate data using appropriate visual formats (tables, graphs, etc.).
• Aesthetic Appreciation & Expression: an understanding of the theories, values, concepts, and terms used to interpret and evaluate works of art, and the ability to apply them to one’s own work or others’ work.
• Critical Reading: using processes to understand and construct meaning from historical, primary, written, and other texts, such as interpretation, decoding, rhetorical analysis, etc.
• Inquiry & Analysis: the ability to systematically explore an issue, object, or work through a disciplinary lens, break down complex topics, and use available evidence to draw conclusions or judgements.
• Information Literacy: the ability to identify an information need, and to effectively locate, evaluate, and ethically use and share information.

2016-2024 Core Curriculum Requirements 

Please see the Undergraduate Catalog for specific program requirements.