The Rochester Curriculum gives most of our undergraduates flexibility to build their own program—studying what they love, without compromises.
No general education requirements
Only one required course
No traditional “core” curriculum
Learn how our flexible curriculum works for undergraduates in the School of Arts & Sciences and Hajim School of Engineering.
A deeper dive
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:
Majors fall in one of the three broad areas of learning:
Clusters are sets of three thematically related courses. Choose from hundreds of clusters or create your own. Some examples:
The Rochester Curriculum’s primary writing requirement teaches communication skills that benefit undergraduate students throughout college—and well beyond, too.
The writing skills I developed helped me immensely throughout my college career in writing lab reports, graduate school applications, fellowship applications, and even manuscripts for publication in scientific journals.
The Rochester Curriculum is all about freedom. This level of flexibility lets students create their own unique academic experiences—whether it includes cross-discipline classes, conducting research, or studying abroad.
Find more information on how to apply to our undergraduate and graduate programs, financial aid, and more.
How to applyStudents have many options for housing, dining, and recreation on and off campus.
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