Graduation and Undergraduate Core Requirements

Click on any of the following for more information:

General Graduation Requirements
Philosophy of the Core Curriculum
Intellectual Compentencies
Knowledge Areas

International Perspectives
Cultural Diversity
School/College Specific Core Requirements
School/College Specific Graduation Requirements

General Graduation Requirements

To receive a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado Denver, students must satisfy all of the requirements below, in addition to completing a Major and fulfilling all of their School or College requirements .

Please note that the requirements below are basic university requirements. Consult your School/College and Major to determine whether they have put additional requirements in place that further restrict these categories.

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required to graduate from CU Denver with a bachelor’s level degree
A minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA is required for all University of Colorado coursework
A maximum of 60 credit hours of transfer courses from a two year institution may be applied
A maximum of 90 credit hours of transfer courses from a four year institution, or a combination of two year and four year institutions may be applied

Though students may take any course more than once, credit toward graduation is counted only once for a typical course, unless otherwise noted in the course description. Some types of courses (e.g. Internships, Independent Studies, etc.) may be repeatable for applicable credit within a certain range of total semester hours. See course descriptions for the max semester hours applicable from each course.

Philosophy of the Core Curriculum

The University of Colorado Denver subscribes to a liberal arts philosophy of education in order to develop a broad set of academic skills for the baccalaureate student and to establish a foundation for lifelong learning. Since 1990, the CU Denver Core curriculum of general education has been a campus-wide program for all undergraduate students, independent of the student’s major.

The CU Denver faculty designed the Core curriculum to provide undergraduate students a high quality academic foundation while still allowing flexibility based on students’ individual backgrounds and specific career goals. The Core curriculum develops multiple literacies, stimulates creative thinking, and utilizes technology. The Core engages students in developing sensitivity to diversity and developing their place in an urban environment, as well as in the rapidly changing global environment. The Core provides an understanding of ourselves, ours and other cultures, and our environment.

CU Denver Undergraduate Core Curriculum

All undergraduate students must complete a 34-38 semester hour (11 courses) curriculum of general education. CU Denver schools and colleges may have specific requirements within the Core curriculum. The Core curriculum is outlined below.

Intellectual Competencies: 9-10 hours

Students must earn a minimum letter grade of C- (1.7) in each Intellectual Competency course to satisfy the Core curriculum requirements.

English Composition

Two course, 6 hours

Mathematics

One course, 3-4 hours

Knowledge Areas: 19-22 hours

Students may not use core courses in the discipline defined by their major(s) to satisfy Knowledge Area requirements.

Arts and Humanities

Two courses, 6 hours

For students not majoring in either Arts or Humanities, one course must be from the Arts and the second from the Humanities. For students majoring in Humanities, one course must be from the Arts and the second course may be from either category. For students majoring in Arts, both courses must be from the Humanities.

Arts

One course required.

Students in the College of Arts & Media should check with their college for specific requirements.

Humanities

One course required.

Students in the College of Arts & Media or humanities majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences should check with their college for specific requirements.

Behavioral and Social Sciences

Two courses, 6 hours

Behavioral Sciences

One course required.

Social Sciences

One course required.

Students in the Business School or the School of Public Affairs should check with their school or college for specific requirements.

Biological and Physical Sciences, Mathematics

Two courses, 7-10 hours

One of the two required courses must have a laboratory. Students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and in the College of Engineering and Applied Science should check with their colleges for specific requirements