Curriculum

Loyola’s curriculum is designed to provide students with a strong foundation in the liberal arts and to achieve expertise in a specialization, either a field of academic inquiry or a major that offers professional preparation. The academic program at Loyola is comprised of three parts:

Liberal arts core curriculum - The liberal arts core is an extensive set of general requirements covering 11 subject areas. Between 18 and 20 one-semester courses are taken, meaning that the core comprises about half of your entire academic program at Loyola.

Major – Loyola offers more than 30 programs in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering and business. Students choose a major within the first two years, completing many introductory requirements during that period. Advanced courses, research, internships and seminars challenge students as college juniors and seniors to acquire the knowledge, understand the theories and concepts and become conversant with the analytic tools of their chosen field.

Electives – The number of electives in a student’s schedule varies, depending on the number of requirements in the chosen major. Students may use their electives to pursue individual interests, or they may use this portion of the college program in an organized fashion. They may expand their coverage of their major or take courses in related subjects. Additionally, they may explore the possibility of a minor in another subject or in one of our interdisciplinary fields.