Undergraduate Core Curriculum

Student Policies and Support

Transfer Students

Students transferring to the University may qualify for modified Core requirements based on their college-level experience. While students can receive university credit for any credits accepted by the university, students may qualify for the transfer core only on the basis of credit hours earned or degrees awarded after their date of high school graduation from an accredited college or university.

Core Course Requirements by Transfer Credit Tier
Tier Threshold Core Course Requirement Credit Hours Required
1 Bachelor’s Degree, Associate of Arts or Associate of Science Degree, completion of Ohio Transfer 36 module, or 51 or more Credit Hours earned Ethics/Religion and Society Sequence (PHIL 100, THEO 111, Lit and the Moral Imagination, E/RS Focus Elective) 12
2 24–50 Credit Hours earned Xavier Core less First-Year Seminar and one of Philosophical Explorations, Theological Explorations, Humanities Integrations, or Natural Science Integrations 36–42
3 Fewer than 24 Credit Hours earned Xavier Core 42–48

Tier Breakdowns

Students who qualify for Tier 1 on the basis of completion of the Ohio Transfer 36 must fulfill all requirements for the Ohio Transfer 36. Students who have completed a part of the Ohio Transfer 36 prior to high school graduation must complete at least 24 of their 36 credits toward the Ohio Transfer 36 at an Ohio public college or university after the date of their high school graduation.

Transfer credit for Core courses is assigned in accordance with Xavier’s transfer credit policy.

  1. Students can transfer to Xavier with a wide range of courses counting for core and/or major and minor requirements, as long as each transferred course can be assigned an equivalent Xavier course or generic transfer equivalency. If the Xavier course carries core attributes (for example, Scientific Explorations, E/RS Focus, etc.), so too will the transferred course. Xavier’s Office of the Registrar, in consultation with department chairs, will help transfer students determine which Xavier course is equivalent to the transferred course.
  2. Students who transfer military or joint services credit can count toward these thresholds only credit for which a specific Xavier course equivalency or departmental elective equivalency is assigned.
  3. A student may use College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) credit to satisfy a prerequisite or course requirement (according to individual departmental policies); however, CLEP credits will not be included when determining eligibility for a different transfer tier.
  4. The flag standards are set by the Core Curriculum Committee (CCC), via the relevant subcommittees who communicate the standards to the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  If it is determined based on its description that a course may satisfy any flag (E/RS or Solidarity and Kinship), equivalence may be requested of the CCC chair or the Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. However, if a student transfers in a course deemed equivalent to a Xavier course that has one or more flags, the flags are retained without independent evaluation by the flag subcommittee.
  5. Some interdisciplinary courses to be transferred have no analogous Xavier departmental affiliation; these courses are identified, for example, as “Humanities” or “Engineering.”  The Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will approve these equivalences in consultation with whomever he/she deems appropriate.

Additional Credit

For Advanced Placement (AP), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and International Baccalaureate (IB), see the guidance provided on the Academic Advising Resources page.

Double-Counting Rules

  1. The same course cannot satisfy both Scientific Explorations and the Natural Science Integrations requirements, though a course may carry both attributes.
  2. The same course cannot satisfy both the Theological Explorations and the Humanities Integration requirements, though a course may carry both attributes.
  3. The same course cannot satisfy both Humanities Integration and E/RS Focus requirements, though a course may carry both attributes.

How to Find Core Courses

Please see the guidance provided on the Academic Advising Resources page.