Academics
Curriculum
The future world of today’s college students will be profoundly different in scientific, intellectual, political, and social terms from their world today. Chicago’s program of liberal education, emphasizing cultural breadth, intellectual depth, and independence of mind, educates students for the long term, to lead productive lives throughout rapidly changing times and into the future. It transcends the preparation of students for careers in the narrow sense. It develops the capacities to live well, whatever the student’s future choices and circumstances—the propensity to maintain an open mind, the ability to find workable solutions to difficult problems, and the disposition to think analytically about important decisions. A liberal education at Chicago is, therefore, a very practical education.
- General Education: The Core
A unique core of required courses, the cornerstone of Chicago’s liberal education, introduces students to a range of knowledge and to multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving. These courses encourage independence of mind and develop powers of individual judgment and expression. They equip students to ask fresh questions and pursue original lines of inquiry.
General education courses comprise one-third of the curriculum. In the first two years, students complete most of these general education requirements and begin to explore courses in the majors. The second half of the academic program is divided between courses in a major, which are specified, and elective courses, which may be selected on the basis of students’ other interests.
- Choosing a Major
Students typically choose their majors in the second or third year. In choosing a major, students are selecting an area of academic study, not a career. Students and parents may be tempted to look for a “useful” major that seems to have immediate applications to a career; however, every Chicago major, together with Chicago’s other curricular requirements, develops useful job market skills. It is not true, for example, that an economics degree will advance students in business careers and that a history or English degree will not. History or English majors often succeed in business, because these disciplines develop the analytic, communication, and problem-solving proficiency highly prized in the business world. It is also important to note that students who choose majors based on interests and talents generally develop stronger academic records than those who choose majors unrelated to their strengths.
It is not unusual for students to change majors—sometimes more than once. We encourage students to assess strengths and weaknesses frankly and critically. Instead of a stumbling block to academic progress, a change of major may be a sign of growth, the impetus for moving forward and improving academic performance.
- Physical Education Requirement
The goal of the three-credit requirement in physical education is to contribute to the student’s knowledge and practice of healthy lifestyle choices. It includes a personal fitness component to develop the ability to design and follow a physiologically-sound exercise program, an activity component to promote competency and appreciation for physical recreation, and proficiency in swimming. Students may test out of all or part of this requirement when they matriculate. Although required for graduation, physical education courses do not contribute to the forty-two courses counted toward a degree, nor do they count toward the number of courses that determine full- or part-time status. Transfer students are exempt from the physical education requirement.
- Language Competency Requirement
Students in the College are required to possess understanding of more than one culture and to demonstrate competence in a language other than English. The language competence requirement must be met by demonstrating reading, writing, listening, and (where appropriate) speaking skills equivalent to one year of college-level study.
- Performance Expectations
The University of Chicago is a community of scholars dedicated to research, academic excellence, and the pursuit and cultivation of learning. Each member of the University—student, faculty, and staff—makes a commitment to strive for personal and academic integrity, to treat others with dignity and respect, to honor the rights and property of others, to take responsibility for individual and group behavior, and to act as a responsible citizen in a free academic community and in the larger society.
- Academic Warning and Probation
Each quarter, students are expected to complete, on time, at least 75 percent of the courses for which they register, with a grade point average for that quarter of at least 1.75. Students who do not meet this expectation receive an academic warning, an informal sanction not noted on the official transcript. Students have one quarter in which to meet these standards. If they do, they return to good standing. If not, they are placed on probation, which is officially recorded on the transcript. Students on probation who fail in the subsequent quarter of registration to meet College standards are barred from further registration, usually for a minimum of one year.
In addition, first-year students who complete either no courses or only one course in any quarter are placed directly on academic probation. This means that the student has to meet the College’s minimum standard for good standing in the following quarter in order to return to good standing. Otherwise, the student will be barred from further registration.
The College’s policy on academic warning and probation is intended to provide quick intervention when students are not performing well and to prevent students from persisting in school in the absence of academic progress. The College expects students on academic warning or probation to work closely with advisers to develop a strategy for improving performance in the following quarter, using the many resources available to support academic success.
To qualify for financial aid, students must maintain an overall course completion rate of at least 75 percent and a cumulative grade point average of at least 1.75.
- Academic Honesty
The University of Chicago is an academic community committed to high scholarly standards and fundamental ethical principles. We believe it is contrary to justice, to academic integrity, and to the spirit of intellectual inquiry to submit the statements, ideas, or work of others as one’s own. To do so is cheating or plagiarism, which are offenses punishable under the University’s disciplinary system. The punishment for these offenses may range from a low grade or failure in a course to suspension or expulsion from the University. New students receive a copy of Doing Honest Work in College by University of Chicago professor Charles Lipson, which explains the proper use and acknowledgement of sources in their papers. Faculty and advisers work with students to help them understand and maintain University standards.
- College Discipline
Students who engage in academic misconduct or violate the standards of the University community in other ways may be brought before the College’s disciplinary committee. The Dean of Students in the College will convene the committee, which is comprised of several faculty members and two student representatives. When students are found guilty of misconduct, the disciplinary committee has the right to impose sanctions ranging from probation to suspension or expulsion.
