Xavier University of Louisiana Changes Core Curriculum and Adds Degree Programs

Xavier University, the historically Black educational institution in New Orleans, has announced a change in its core curriculum and additions to its program offerings.

The current core curriculum – designed to give students a well-rounded education – was instituted in 1980 and only minor changes have been made since that time. The new core curriculum reduces the mandated course requirements from 60 hours to 40 hours. The streamlined core curriculum offers students greater opportunities to pursue minor degrees, certificates, double majors, and to take classes outside of their chosen degree path.

The university’s Academic Assembly set goals for the new core “to ensure that all Xavier graduates would be able to communicate effectively through writing and speaking, be able to use quantitative, empirical, and critical reasoning skills to solve problems, be able to incorporate diverse cultural perspectives in their analysis of uses and to recognize the interconnectivity of human experience, be able to demonstrate a science-based understanding of the natural world, be able to interpret and evaluate diverse forms of human expression, and be able to apply socially responsible and ethical principles to promote equity and sustainability in ways that align with Xavier’s mission.”

In addition to changes in the core curriculum, new bachelor’s degree programs in bioinformatics, data science, neuroscience, sociology with a concentration in criminal and social justice, and music with a concentration in jazz studies have been etablished. A new master of public health degree in health equity will also be offered.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Recent Books of Interest to African American Scholars

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education regularly publishes a list of new books that may be of interest to our readers. The books included are on a wide variety of subjects and present many different points of view.

Nonwhite Patients Are Significantly More Likely to Have Preventative Care Insurance Claims Denied

Scholars from the University of Toronto have found non-White patients are nearly twice as likely as White patients to have an insurance claim denied. On average, they also pay more out-of-pocket costs when their claims are denied.

Leslie Rodriguez-McClellon Named Seventeenth President of Arkansas Baptist College

Prior to her new role, Dr. Rodriguez-McClellon was the vice president of community relations and governmental affairs at Saint Augustine's University in Raleigh. She has a robust background in higher education, including service as the first African American president of Rochester Community and Technical College in Minnesota.

Black Men Remain Underrepresented in the Physician Assistant Profession

From 2012 to 2021, the number of applicants to physician assistant and associate programs grew by 64 percent. However, the share of Black male applicants to these programs remained around 2 percent over this same time period.

Featured Jobs