Mission: The mission of the Core Curriculum is to provide an integrative four-year learning experience for all matriculants. The cornerstone course starting the freshman year lays out a framework for new students to help them understand the concept of a liberal arts education and the role of a Christian university in integrating faith and learning. Along with the senior capstone course, it provides a vehicle for pre- and post-testing to assess intellectual growth, value strengthening, and spiritual development. The capstone course stimulates a summative integration of the student’s faith with the discipline’s intellectual material. The Core challenges students to examine and develop their beliefs and strengthen their intellectual skills. Its goal is that Vanguard graduates will bear a distinctive stamp reflective of their common experience.

Rationale for the Core Curriculum

The faculty of Vanguard University is committed to a broad education in the liberal arts, an objective requiring study in a variety of academic disciplines that is fulfilled in part by its core curriculum in general education for traditional undergraduate majors. 

Core Curriculum Requirements by Category 

NOTE: Some majors require particular courses to be taken in certain Core Curriculum categories (e.g., Business Administration majors must take BUSN-265C Business Statistics for their Math Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning requirement). The requirements for specific majors can be found on individual major catalog pages. Students should carefully consult with their Student Success Coordinator prior to selecting Core Curriculum courses or selecting courses to transfer to Vanguard to meet Core Curriculum requirements. 

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CORE-100C is required of all first-year students. Students who have earned 12 or more post-high school transferrable units may be exempted from this requirement. 

²

Students are given a diagnostic writing exam during the summer and will be required to take ENGL-120CL Persuasive Writing Lab concurrently with this course if their score so warrants. 

³

English majors satisfy this requirement in the major by taking ENGL-240C Foundations/Literary Study.

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Students are required to have junior status in order to register for this course. 

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Students are required to have senior status in order to register for this course. 

Capstone Courses (variable units) (Prefix will reflect major field)

A capstone course within the major is to encourage active reflection on the undergraduate journey and solidify the integration of faith and learning. Includes the writing of an integrative personal philosophy paper and capstone assessments of academic achievement that, paired with cornerstone assessments, will provide tangible, measurable evidence of growth during the Vanguard years.

1. Integration of Faith and Learning:  Students will develop and articulate a Biblical worldview informed by a Pentecostal perspective, integrating faith with learning.
2. Cultural Competency and Citizenship:  Students will understand and practice effective local, national and global citizenship and demonstrate appreciation of diverse psychological, social, historical and artistic aspects of culture.
3. Communication:  Students will demonstrate effective, college-level written and oral communication skills.
4. Critical Thinking:  Students will develop and apply qualitative and quantitative critical thinking skills.
5. Holistic Living:  Students will appreciate and demonstrate a holistic view of health and living.
6. Information Competency:  Students will demonstrate foundational technology skills that allow one to locate and evaluate the integrity of information, and to understand the ethical uses of information.

By establishing links between different disciplines, relating the past to the present, and increasing awareness of contemporary challenges, the core curriculum classes should open new vistas for all students and encourage a lifelong pursuit of knowledge.

CORE Courses