Brandeis Core Requirements
A strong, general education foundation is built through work in a variety of interconnected elements. The fundamental goals of the Brandeis Core are to provide the skills, knowledge, and perspectives necessary for students to succeed personally and professionally as citizens of a rapidly changing, globalized world. Through these requirements, undergraduates will learn to explore issues related to justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the United States and the world, make sound evidence-based arguments and decisions, think critically, communicate effectively, assess and manipulate quantitative information, understand historical and cultural context, and operate efficiently within a digital domain.
For students entering Brandeis beginning fall 2026, the basic outline of the requirement structure is as follows:
Brandeis First-Year Seminar
First-year students entering in the fall of 2026 and thereafter must satisfactorily complete one First-Year Seminar (FYS) course in their first year.
Students will take an online writing assessment to determine their level of writing proficiency. Upon evaluation of the writing assessment, students will be placed in either Composition Seminar (CSEM) or First-Year Seminar (FYS). Students placed in Composition Seminar must complete CSEM in their first semester and FYS in their second semester. Students placed in FYS may elect to take it in either their first or second semester. Students who do not satisfy the FYS requirement within their first two semesters are subject to administrative withdrawal.
Note that all transfer students are exempt from the First-Year Seminar requirement, beginning fall 2026.
Areas of Inquiry
In order to achieve a broad understanding of the approaches, perspectives, insights, and methodologies of a variety of disciplines, students will explore each of the four areas of inquiry: creative arts, humanities, science, and social science.
Because "double-counting" generally is encouraged, most students will satisfy the schools of thought distribution requirement in the context of others, for example, in satisfying the requirements of a major or a minor. Among general university requirements, the only limitations on double-counting are as follows: The three-course foreign language sequence may not be applied toward the humanities component of this requirement. No credits from exams such as AP or IB, may apply toward this component.
Core Competencies
Students will complete courses approved to satisfy each of the following core competencies: oral and written communication, technologies, teamwork and collaboration, and quantitative reasoning.
Oral and Written Communication
Oral Communication
Students fulfill the oral communication requirement through satisfactory completion of any course designated as oral communication [OC]. Oral Communication courses enhance students' ability to speak and listen effectively in a range of contexts. Through these courses, students acquire concrete skills to critically evaluate orally presented information and arguments, and consider specific techniques for using language as a communication tool in various situations, including (but not limited to) oral presentations, interviews, active debate, discussion facilitation, and critique.
Written Communication
Students fulfill the written communication requirement through satisfactory completion of any course designated as writing intensive [WI]. Writing intensive courses include multiple writing assignments, assessments, and revisions. From individualized writing instruction and critical feedback of their work, students learn to articulate complex thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively in a variety of written formats suited to a range of academic and professional audiences.
Technologies
Students fulfill the technologies requirement through satisfactory completion of any course designated as digital literacy [DL]. In digital literacy courses, students learn how to identify and apply the appropriate technological tools to discipline-specific tasks. They are asked to evaluate the ethical and societal dimensions of a given technology and the tradeoffs inherent in its use.
Teamwork and Collaboration
In teamwork and collaboration courses, students acquire critical listening, conflict management, and consensus building skills through engagement in collaborative experiences. Students learn to identify, respect, and leverage the strengths of all team members, while recognizing the importance of individual accountability in interdependent work.Quantitative Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning courses are offered within a variety of disciplines. Students will learn to collect, summarize, and analyze numerical data; to make abstract concepts operational; and to think critically about the accuracy and soundness of conclusions based on data or on mathematical models.
Global Engagement and Justice
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Studies in the United States
For the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Studies in the United States requirement, students will complete one semester course that focuses on the dynamics, developments, and divisions within U.S. society, and explore the historical and contemporary experiences, interests, and perspectives of a wide range of groups and institutions that have shaped life in the United States.
Difference and Justice in the World
For the Difference and Justice in the World, students will complete one semester course that focuses on the social, cultural, political, and/or economic diversity of human experience within the global or transnational context, and engage in the study of peoples in countries outside the U.S., their histories, arts, cultures, politics, economics, environments, and religions.
World Languages and Cultures
Gaining proficiency in a world language opens the possibility for international discovery to students, enabling them to communicate and collaborate with others across cultures, to gain access to information through sources in languages other than English, and to explore issues from a range of perspectives in order to respond more creatively to global challenges. As part of the Global Engagement requirement, the goal of the world languages sequence is to prepare students to better understand and to more effectively participate in a different culture. Students will deepen their knowledge of a world cultural tradition, strengthen their ability to speak, listen, read, and write in the language of that culture, and as a result, they will expand their capacity for empathy toward others. Students will be better prepared to navigate an increasingly international marketplace, whether in the U.S. or abroad.
Students who fulfill the world languages sequence will demonstrate a range of intermediate-level proficiency skills in a language other than English (including American Sign Language). These essential skills, as described by the ACTFL Guidelines, enable students to create in another language in order to express personal thoughts and needs, to engage in meaningful ways during social interactions, and to participate in the events of everyday life. Students of Ancient Greek, Latin, and Biblical Hebrew will focus exclusively on reading, writing and cultural knowledge.
Students may satisfy the world languages sequence by successfully completing an intermediate-level language course (usually numbered in the 30s) at Brandeis. Students are strongly encouraged to begin fulfilling the world languages sequence as soon as they matriculate; students taking more than one course to satisfy the requirement are encouraged to complete the sequence without interruption.
Alternatively, the requirement may be satisfied by taking an exemption exam offered by the appropriate language department, by having earned a score of 4 or 5 on the appropriate Advanced Placement Exam or a score of 620 on the appropriate CEEB SAT II exam, or by having earned a score of 5 or higher on the appropriate International Baccalaureate Higher Level Exam. SAT II test scores are not accepted for fulfillment of the language requirement in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.
All students who want to continue learning a language in which they already have experience should contact the appropriate language department in order to take a placement test. The format of the placement tests will vary according to the language.
Specialized courses are available to students who grew up speaking Chinese, Russian, or Spanish at home, and who want to strengthen their skills in reading and writing in order to use their home language to fulfill the Brandeis language requirement. Students who receive a passing grade in HISP 108a (Spanish for heritage learners) will satisfy the language requirement; students who receive a passing grade of C minus on the final exam for RUS 29b (Russian Language for Russian Speakers) will satisfy the language requirement; students who receive a passing grade in CHIN 29a (Pathways for Chinese Literacy) will need to pass CHIN 30a (Intermediate Chinese) to satisfy the language requirement.
The 30-level course that satisfies the language requirement cannot be taken on the pass-fail grading option. Students who enroll in lower-level language classes (10 or 20) in pursuit of fulfilling the requirement may take only one of these courses on the pass-fail grading option.
Health, Wellness, and Life Skills
Provides students with the tools to successfully balance and succeed in social, professional, community, and global commitments. Students will satisfy this non-credit requirement by satisfactorily completing three modules or approved equivalents.
Required of all students in their first semester is the satisfactory completion of HWL 1 Navigating Health and Safety, a course on alcohol and drug awareness and sexual assault prevention. Two additional modules or approved semester courses in either Mind and Body Balance (with instruction in areas such as physical fitness, nutrition, stress management, faith and spirituality) or Life Skills (with topics such as financial literacy, career development, and reducing your carbon footprint) must be completed by the end of a student's senior year.