The Rochester Curriculum

There’s only one required course

With the Rochester Curriculum, undergraduate students in Arts, Sciences & Engineering build their own program of study. There are no general education requirements and no traditional “core” curriculum. Here’s how it works:

Student taking notes at University of Rochester

1. Primary writing requirement

While there are no required subjects at Rochester, we do have a required skill: mastery of written communication. Choose from dozens of writing courses on a range of topics. Some recent examples:

Philosophy in science fiction
America’s national parks
Comics and culture

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2. Course requirements for the major

Majors fall in one of the three broad areas of learning:

Humanities
Social sciences
Natural sciences and engineering

How majors work

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3. Cluster in remaining two areas

Clusters are sets of three thematically related courses. Choose from hundreds of clusters or create your own. Some examples:

Politics and math
Sonic arts and technology
Power and inequality

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Graduation cap with multi-disciplinary study focus at University of Rochester

Majors and minors

The Rochester Curriculum is all about freedom. This level of flexibility means most students find they have time to double- or triple-major, study abroad, conduct research, take music lessons, lead teams or clubs, or give back to the community.

Explore our programs