Degrees Offered

Elizabethtown College grants five residence degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, and Master of Science. Four additional degrees are offered through the Center of Continuing Education and Distance Learning: Bachelor of Liberal Studies, Bachelor of Professional Studies, Associate of Arts, and Associate of Science.

The Core Program

The Core Program supports the academic goals expressed in Elizabethtown College’s mission statement. It has four major purposes: to provide a sense of mission and purpose to general education, to provide a foundation for successful study in liberal arts and professions, to integrate knowledge across the disciplines by engaging students in the study of the natural world and the human experience, and to develop habits of the mind that foster continued intellectual growth. The Core Program promotes truth, tenable judgments and important ideas by assuring that a student has the opportunity to acquire significant knowledge and accepted methods of inquiry.

The Core Program offers two basic categories of courses. Students engage in a common educational experience in the First-Year Seminar and First-Year Collo-quium. In addition to this common experience, students enroll in courses in eight Areas of Understanding. A total of 11 courses – including the First-Year Seminar and Colloquium – are required to complete the Elizabethtown Core. The thematic Areas of Understanding unite the Core Program into a cohesive offering, develop skills of self-education, and integrate knowledge across the disciplines. Any exceptions to Core requirements must be petitioned to the Academic Standing Committee.

Courses in the Core Program are reviewed every three years, with approximately one-third of the courses undergoing review each year. Thus, the Core is fluid, with courses moving in and out. For the current list of approved Core courses, refer to the online list available through the Registration and Records website.

Common Core

Students who are entering the College for the first time and who are pursuing a bachelor’s degree must take a First-Year Seminar and First-Year Colloquium during their first semester. Transfer students who have completed fewer than 24 credits of course work at another college also are required to complete the First-Year Seminar and First-Year Colloquium.

FYS 100 First-Year Seminar (3 credits)

The First-Year Seminar is comprised of several important components. First, it develops intellectual skills, such as critical analysis and synthesis, and communications skills, such as speaking and writing. Second, it broadens definitions of learning. Students are exposed to multiple ways of acquiring information and knowledge. Third, using the instructor’s major field of study as a foundation, the First-Year Seminar establishes the integration of knowledge and promotes connections across disciplines. The First-Year Seminar is letter-graded.

FYC 100 First-Year Colloquium (1 credit)

The First-Year Colloquium is the companion to the First-Year Seminar. It provides a common experience for all first-year students, who meet once a week during the fall semester either with their instructor or with the whole first-year class, depending on the particular program for that week. Programming is varied and includes academic lectures, performing arts presentations, and extended orientation programs that prepare the students for the expectations of college life and familiarize them with the support systems at Elizabethtown College. Students are required to provide evidence of reflection on all sessions (e.g., journaling). The First-Year Colloquium is graded Pass/No Pass.