Core Curriculum

TSU General Education Core – Academic Foundation & Credit Transfer

The General Education Core Curriculum at Texas Southern University (TSU) plays a vital role in equipping students with essential knowledge and competencies for college, careers, and lifelong learning. This 42-semester credit hour (SCH) program includes core courses in communication, mathematics, life and physical sciences, philosophy, creative arts, American history, political science, and social sciences.

Designed in alignment with the Texas Common Core Curriculum, this program ensures seamless credit transfer among public colleges, universities, and health-related institutions in Texas. Students who complete the full 42-SCH curriculum can transfer as "core complete" without repeating courses. Those transferring before completion receive credit for successfully completed courses, although they may not fully satisfy another institution’s core requirements.

TSU's curriculum fosters critical thinking, diverse perspectives, and interdisciplinary connections through reading, writing, analysis, discussions, and hands-on learning—preparing students for academic and career success.

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Core Curriculum Objectives at Texas Southern University

The core curriculum at Texas Southern University aims to develop essential competencies in students:

• Critical Thinking Skills: Foster creative thinking, innovation, inquiry, and the ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information.
• Communication Skills: Enhance the development, interpretation, and expression of ideas through written, oral, and visual communication.
• Empirical and Quantitative Skills: Improve the manipulation and analysis of numerical data or observable facts to draw informed conclusions.
• Teamwork: Cultivate the ability to consider different viewpoints and work effectively with others towards a shared goal.
• Personal Responsibility: Encourage connecting choices, actions, and consequences to ethical decision-making.
• Social Responsibility: Promote intercultural competence, civic responsibility, and effective engagement in regional, national, and global communities.