Core Overview
Since 1599, Jesuit education has promoted a distinctive plan of studies (Ratio Studiorum) that adapts to each generation while remaining grounded in the Jesuit liberal arts tradition, a tradition that begins at Xavier with the Undergraduate Core Curriculum. Over time, Xavier’s Core has been refined to meet new learning needs while clarifying what an Ignatian education offers students—formation rooted in magis, reflection, discernment, cura personalis, solidarity and kinship, and service grounded in justice and love—and expressed today through Core courses that help students build connections, strengthen community, and develop capabilities to navigate an ever-changing and interconnected world.
In the Ignatian tradition, education arises from an attitude of inquiry and attentive engagement with experience, rigorous questioning, and reflective discernment about what matters most. In this same spirit, the Core is organized around Vital Questions, with each course inviting sustained exploration and reflection to guide students as they develop thoughtful, evidence-grounded responses to these questions over time.
Xavier’s “3 Cs” Core Curriculum
Xavier’s Core Curriculum contributes to student formation by promoting “the 3 Cs”: Connection, Community, and Capabilities.
Connection
While your major program will equip you with expertise and knowledge, the Core helps you to be a person of understanding. By asking big questions—Who am I? Is there a God who loves us? What is life’s ultimate purpose? How should we live?—you’ll discover foundational connections among the issues you study, and connect them to the things that you care about. The Core supports our graduates in living lives of purpose and significance in their professions and beyond.
Community
Form deep and lasting relationships through the Core, a common academic experience that helps you to build friendships with students from across the university. By asking deep questions, you’ll encounter different perspectives, and cultivate habits of communication and empathy. You’ll be prepared to advance the common good in a complex and changing world.
Capabilities
In the Core, you’ll develop the foundational skills that will help equip you to succeed at the university and meet future employers’ expectations. You’ll also discover higher-order capacities of creative expression, critical thinking to solve complex problems in situations of uncertainty, and reflection as you explore your individual vocation, the way in which you are called to realize your unique talents and make the world a better place. Our graduates are thoughtful individuals who have the confidence to speak up and to lead, and are prepared to flourish in every dimension of their lives.