Common Core CurriculumThe Common Core Program is a key part of the undergraduate education, complementing studies in specialist disciplines and other learning opportunities. Since its inception in 2012, there have been rapid changes in global technology trends and the growing importance of cross-disciplinary studies. To prepare students for future challenges, the objectives, structure, and implementation of the Common Core Program have been revised. A new 30-credit Common Core Program was launched in the academic year 2022-23. The new framework adopts a scaffolding structure with 3 tiers of common core groups, i.e., Foundations, Broadening, and Experiencing, which provide students with more interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities. It also emphasizes competency education, which help students acquire, develop, and practice essential competencies for their study and future. Since then, there have been further program development resulting in slight differences in the curriculum and requirements for students admitted in 2025-26 and for those admitted between 2022-23 and 2024-25. For example, a new common core area, Sustainability (SUS), is included for students admitted in 2025-26. The table below shows the common core groups, common core areas, and credit requirements for students admitted in 2025-26: 
Foundations Requirement (12 to 15 credits) The Foundations group includes Cognitive Foundations of University Education: Critical Thinking and Data Literacy (CTDL), Behavioral Foundations of University Education: Habits, Mindsets, and Wellness (HMW), English Communication (E-Comm), and Chinese Communication (C-Comm) areas. These courses aim to provide students with core skillsets and mindsets training. It is recommended that students take these courses in their first year of study. The CTDL area is an elective. Students may take courses from the areas of E-Comm (Advanced Communication courses only), C-Comm, Arts (A), Humanities (H), Science (S), Technology (T), Social Analysis (SA), Sustainability (SUS), and Undergraduate experiential Opportunities Programs (UxOP) to substitute for the credit requirement in the CTDL area. However, transferred credits granted in any common core area in the Broadening group cannot be used to fulfill the credit requirement of CTDL area. Students are strongly encouraged to consider taking a course in CTDL area to develop their cognitive skills and enhance their learning experience at the University. Broadening Requirement (12 to 18 credits) Each major program has designated home common core areas in the Broadening group that correspond to the primary academic disciplines of that program. The home common core area(s) of each program are listed below:
To provide students with a well-rounded education, HKUST requires each student to complete 12 credits of common core courses outside their home area(s) in the Broadening group. Students should take 12 credits from four different non-home common core areas under the Broadening group. If they fall short of the 12-credit requirement, they may take Broadening courses of any common core area, including their home common core area(s), to fulfill the requirement. For example, SSCI majors must complete 12 credits from four different non-home areas in A, H, T, SA, and SUS. Similarly, SBM majors (excluding WBB and EABU) must complete 12 credits from four different non-home areas in A, H, S, T, and SUS. For students enrolled in an additional major, a dual degree program, or a Joint-School program, their home common core areas consist of the union of all the home common core areas of their individual majors taken. For instance, students in a dual degree program in SSCI, SENG, and SBM would have home common core areas consisting of the S, T, and SA areas. These students are required to complete 3 credits in each of the A, H, and SUS areas. The remaining 3 credits can be earned by taking courses in any common core area in the Broadening group. The credit requirement for each common core area in the Broadening group varies across different major programs. In general, students should fulfill the program-specific credit requirement to fulfill the Broadening requirement, while transferred credits granted in any common core area in the Broadening group cannot be used to fulfill the credit requirement of the CTDL and UxOP areas. Experiencing Requirement (0 to 3 credits) The Experiencing group requires students to choose any one of the four structured programs offered as the Undergraduate experiential Opportunities Programs (UxOP):
Each UxOP will have a distinct focus, but all of them will be experiential. The UxOP area is an elective. Students may take courses from the areas of CTDL, E-Comm (Advanced Communication courses only), C-Comm, A, H, S, T, SA, and SUS to substitute for the credit requirement in the UxOP area. Similar to the requirement in the CTDL area, the transferred credits granted in any common core area in the Broadening group cannot be used to fulfill the credit requirement of the UxOP area. Students are strongly encouraged to consider taking a course in UxOP area to enrich their learning experience at the University. Remarks # The UROP common core course in the 30-credit Common Core curriculum is different from other UROP courses listed at https://urop.hkust.edu.hk/courses. To fulfill the 3-credit common core UROP requirement, students must complete two non-common-core UROP preparatory training courses, i.e., either two UROP 1100, or UROP 1100 and UROP 2100, and one 1-credit common core UROP course, i.e., UROP 3200.* To fulfill the 3-credit common core UPOP requirement, students must complete one credit from a credit bearning non-common-core course on pre-internship training and one 2-credit UPOP common core course. |
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