NUpath and NU Core
NUpath
Students who matriculated in Fall 2016 or later are held to the NUpath core requirements. For more information visit the NUpath Student Information page.
Students who are following NUpath and are pursuing a BA degree are also required to complete a foreign language requirement. Please read the section below on the foreign language requirement.
NU Core
Students who matriculated before Fall 2016 are held to the NU Core requirements that were implemented in 2007. Please read on below for more information.
Searching for NU Core and NUpath courses
- 1. Visit http://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/
- 2. Click Schedules
- 3. Click Banner Class Schedule
- 4. Select the term
- 5. Leave Subject as: “All”
- 6. Under Attribute Type, select either the NU Core or NUpath requirement you’re interested in.
- 7. Leave Course Level as: “All”
- 8. This is what your search will look like if you’re looking for all courses that fulfill the NUpath Analyzing/Using Data requirement:
What are the specific NU Core requirements?
All students have specific NU Core requirements they must fulfill, which can also be found on the degree audit.
Degree Types
The type of degree you are pursuing affects which requirements you must complete in order to graduate. Check out What is the Difference Between a B.A. and a B.S. to get a great explanation of the difference between the two major degree types.
Students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) are required to complete the following:
- Language Requirement
- One course in each of the four Knowledge Domains
- All other areas of the NU Core
Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science (BS) or a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) are required to complete the following:
- One Arts or one Humanities
- One Social Science
- One Science/Technology
- All other areas of the NU Core
Knowledge Domains
- Arts
- Humanities
- Social Science
- Science/Technology
Comparative Study of Cultures
Complete one approved course in comparative study of cultures or another approved approach, including traditional and short-term faculty-led study-abroad programs (study abroad or dialogue).
Analytical Math
Level 1 – Complete one approved course in mathematical/analytical thinking level 1.
Level 2 – Complete one approved course in mathematical/analytical thinking level 2.
English
College Writing
The courses in the First-Year Writing Program are designed to introduce students to the intellectual work of the University; to help them understand how and why scholars and teachers and practitioners across disciplines ask the kinds of questions in the ways that they do. Our goal is to put students in a position to see for themselves how ideas get generated, tested, and revised by doing the work of generating, testing, and revising their own ideas as they take part in class discussion, read, and write.
Advanced Writing in the Disciplines – Complete a first-year writing course and an advanced writing course provided by the Department of English and two approved writing-intensive courses in the major. Usually, the capstone course serves as one of the major-specific writing courses.
AWD Online Classes – Students who are strong writers, who are self-motivated and visual learners, and who are comfortable sharing their work with others and offering peer critiques are most successful in our online courses. These are advanced writing courses in which we expect sophisticated, polished writing and strong critical thinking and research skills. Students who struggle with writing mechanics, grammar, or development of ideas will face more challenges. While some English language learners do well in online courses, we have found that many of them benefit from face-to-face instruction and the opportunity to interact orally with their instructors and peers. We urge students to think carefully about their learning styles and needs when selecting their AWD course, and to discuss their suitability for online courses with their advisors. Read more at the Advanced Writing in the Disciplines Website.
Writing Courses
Writing Intensive – Students must complete two, approved writing intensive courses within their major. The list of available options can be found in the degree audit under “Writing Intensive”.
Capstone – Complete one approved capstone course within your major in the final semesters. This course acts as a final integrator of the major, general education, and experiential aspects of the student’s education. Generally, this course also includes writing-intensive work and research or creative activity, and, in most cases, the second writing-intensive-in-the-major requirement is satisfied by the capstone course.
Level 2 Elective
Complete one intermediate or upper-level course (generally numbered 2000 or above) outside your major department.
Experiential Learning
Complete one approved experiential learning activity with a reflective component. Experiential learning opportunities are disbursed throughout each student’s undergraduate education to encourage the development of seeing connections between course work and experiential learning. Students should consult their college or their major department for advice on approved activities.
Foreign Language Requirements (BA Degrees only)
Complete (2) elementary language courses with a grade of C or higher. Proficiency at the Elementary level 2 is required. Complete either an intermediate-level course within your language or a course whose subject matter is strongly focused on some aspect of the culture,history, or society of a part of the world where that language is spoken. Please look below for a more in-depth explanation of the language requirement.
Courses are available in a variety of languages.
- American Sign Language
- Arabic
- Chinese
- French
- German
- Hebrew
- Italian
- Japanese
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
You can find out more about each of these options on the World Languages Center website.
If you have no experience with a foreign language
Your progression will be as follows:
- xxxx1101 – Elementary 1
- xxxx1102 – Elementary 2
- either: xxxx2101 – Intermediate 1
or approved culture course for that language, found on your degree audit (ex: CLTR2504/2505)
If you have experience with a foreign language
Please take the placement test offered here. The test will tell you which level you place into.
If you test into Elementary 1 please follow the progression as above (no experience).
If you test into Elementary 2 you will need to take that course (xxxx1102) and either a culture or Intermediate 1 course in the language. In this case, you finish the language requirement with 2 courses instead of 3.
If you test into Intermediate 1 you can either
- take the Intermediate 1 class with no extra steps,
- or opt out of the spoken language classes by taking an oral interview with the Language Department.
- If you pass the interview, you can then be waived out of Elementary 1 and 2, and simply take an approved culture course. In this case, you finish the language requirement with 1 course.
If you test into Intermediate 2 or higher you can opt out of the language classes by taking an oral interview with the Language Department. If you pass the interview, you can then be waived out of your entire language requirement. If you choose to not take the oral interview, you will need to take the spoken language course you have tested into. Please contact the World Languages Center with questions regarding the placement exam or for help registering for a course that you have placed into.