2018-2019 Core Requirements

All students pursuing an undergraduate degree at the university must complete the 42-hour statewide core curriculum. The list of courses students should use to choose to fulfill their core requirements is updated annually and published here and in the General Information Catalog. Students should consult the Course Schedule in order to see the core course offerings in any given semester. These requirements are consistent with statewide guidelines; the area of the statewide core that each requirement meets is given in parentheses.

View a printable copy of the 2018-2019 core list.

A single course may not be counted toward more than one core area.

Requirements

First-Year Signature Course (Texas core code 090)
One of the following courses, completed during the first year in residence:

  • Undergraduate Studies 302 or 303
  • Students in the Plan II Honors Program may complete this requirement by taking Tutorial Course 302.

English Composition (Texas core code 010)
Six hours are required.
One of the following courses:

  • Rhetoric and Writing 306
  • Nonnative speakers of English may complete this requirement by taking Rhetoric and Writing 306Q.
  • Students in the Plan II Honors Program may complete this requirement by taking English 303C or Tutorial Course 303C.

AND

  • A three-hour course with a Writing Flag

Note that the Writing flagged course counted toward this area of the core may also be used to satisfy other Flag and major requirements outside the core curriculum, but may not be used to satisfy any other requirement of the core curriculum.

Humanities (Texas core code 040)
The following course:

  • English 316L, 316M, 316N, 316P
  • Students in the Plan II Honors Program may complete this requirement by taking English 303D or Tutorial Course 303D.

American and Texas Government (Texas core code 070)
Six hours are required.

  • Government 310L is required for all students.
  • Government 312L or 312P may be used to satisfy the second half of this requirement.
  • Transfer students with five or more hours of coursework in U.S. government may complete this requirement of the core by taking Government 105, which includes Texas Constitutional content that is consistent with the legislative requirement. Rules prescribing which pairs of in-residence and transferred government coursework will fulfill the legislative requirement are very strict. Therefore students who plan to take only one government course on campus and the other at another public college in Texas, or who arrive at The University of Texas at Austin having taken one government course and plan to take the other one at the university, should visit the Office of Admissions website for transfer guidance before choosing courses to pair for this core requirement.

US History (Texas core code 060)
Six hours are required; three hours may be in Texas history. This coursework partially fulfills the legislative requirement. The following courses may be counted toward this requirement:

  • History 314K, 315G, 315K, 315L, 317L, 320L, 320P, 320R, 333L, 333M, 334L, 340S, 345J, 345L, 350R, 351P, 355F, 355M, 355N, 355P, 355S, 356G, 356K, 356P, 356S, 356R, 357C, 357D, 365G, 376F

Social & Behavioral Sciences (Texas core code 080)
One of the following courses:

  • Advertising 319
  • African and African Diaspora Studies 303, 324E
  • Anthropology 302, 305, 307, 318L
  • Core Texts and Ideas 302, 365
  • Curriculum and Instruction 319
  • Economics 301, 304K, 304L
  • Educational Psychology 350E, 350L
  • Geography 305, 306C, 307C, 319
  • Health and Society 301
  • History 329U
  • Human Development and Family Sciences 304, 304H
  • Human Dimensions of Organizations 301
  • Kinesiology 311K
  • Linguistics 306, 312D, 312E
  • Mexican American Studies 301, 309
  • Psychology 301, 306
  • Radio-Television-Film 303C
  • Religious Studies 310
  • Sociology 302, 307C, 307D, 307E, 307F, 307G, 307J, 307K, 307L, 307N, 307P, 307Q, 307S, 307T, 308D, 308E, 308F, 308G, 308J, 308K, 308L, 308M, 308N, 309, 309C, 313K, 318, 319
  • Special Education 303
  • Students in the Plan II Honors Program may complete this requirement by taking Social Science 302 C, D, E, or F.

Mathematics (Texas core code 020)
One of the following courses:

  • Advertising 309R
  • African and African Diaspora Studies 302M, 350
  • Educational Psychology 308, 371
  • Mathematics 302, 305G, 408C, 408K, 408N, 408R
  • Philosophy 313
  • Sociology 317L
  • Statistics and Data Sciences 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 328M
  • Students in the Plan II Honors Program may complete this requirement by taking Mathematics 310P.

Natural Science & Technology, Part I (Texas core code 030)
Six hours in a single field of study. View a science part I pairings chart. The following courses may be counted and paired as indicated below:

  • Astronomy 301, 307, 309C, 309G, 309L, 309N, 309R, 309S
       Choose either Astronomy 301 or 307 and one course from Astronomy 309C, 309G, 309L, 309N, 309R, and 309S1.
  • Biology 301D, 301E, 301G, 301L, 301M, 305F, 309D, 311C, 311D, 315H, 325H, 326M, 446L, 365S
       Choose two courses from Biology 301D, 301G, 301L, 301M, 305F, 309D; 
       or complete one of the following recommended pairs: BIO 311C and 311D, BIO 311C and 326M, BIO 311C and 446L,    BIO 311C and 365S, BIO 315H and 325H1. 
       Students in the Plan II honors program may pair Biology 301E with Biology 301D, 301G, 305F, 309D, 311C, or 315H.
  • Chemistry 301, 301H, 302, 302H, 304K, 305
       Students should complete one of the following pairs of courses: Chemistry 301 and 302, 301H and 302H, 304K and 3051.
  • Geological Sciences 401, 302C, 302D, 302E, 302G, 302J, 302M, 302P, 303, 303C, 405
       Only one of the following may be counted: Geological Sciences 401 or 303.
  • Marine Science 307, 308
  • Natural Sciences 306J, 306K, 306L, and 306M2,3
  • Physics 301, 302K, 302L, 303K, 303L, 309K, 309L, 316, 317K, 317L, 321; Physical Science 303, 304
       Students should complete one of the following pairs of courses: Physics 301 and 316; 302K and 302L; 303K and 303L; 309K and 309L; 317K and 317L; Physical Science 303 and 304. Physical Science 303 may not be counted with Physics 301, 302K, 303K, 309K, and 317K to complete Science and Technology Part I.; Physical Science 304 may not be counted with Physics 302L, 303L, 309L, 316, and 317L to complete Natural Science and Technology Part I. Students in the Plan II honors program may pair Physics 321 with any of the physics or physical science courses listed above1
  • If Plan II students do not use Biology 301E or Physics 321 to fulfill Natural Science and Technology Part I, they may use one of them to fulfill the Natural Science and Technology Part II requirement as long as the two parts are in different fields of study.

Natural Science & Technology, Part II (Texas core code 093)
Three hours in a field of study different from the field counted toward the preceding requirement. View a pairing chart to help choosing courses for Part II. Courses listed under Natural Science & Technology Part I, may be counted toward this requirement; the following courses may also be counted:

  • Anthropology 301, 304, 304T
  • Computer Science 302, 303E, 312
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering 302
  • Geography 401C, 301K, 404E
  • Natural Sciences 306J, 306K, 306L, and 306M2,3
  • Nutrition 306
  • Science 3654

Visual and Performing Arts (Texas core code 050)
One of the following courses:

  • African and African Diaspora Studies 311C, 356C, 356D, 356E
  • American Studies 330
  • Architecture 308, 309W, 318K, 318L, 342C
  • Arts & Entertainment Technologies 304, 308
  • Art History 301, 302, 303, 325, 327N, 327R, 327S, 328J, 329J, 329N, 329R, 330G, 330J, 331J, 331K, 331P, 332K, 332L, 333L, 335J, 337K, 338J, 338L, 338M, 338V, 339J, 339K, 339L, 339M, 339N, 339P, 339R, 341K, 341L, 342J, 345J, 346L, 347J, 347K, 347L, 347M, 347N, 348N, 349K
  • Classical Civilization 301, 302, 303, 307C, 307D
  • Core Texts and Ideas 350, 351
  • Design 308
  • English 310F, 321P, 379P
  • Fine Arts 308, 313C
  • Music 302L, 303C, 303D, 303E, 303M, 306M, 307, 312C, 334
  • Philosophy 317K, 346K
  • Radio-Television-Film 305, 306
  • Theatre and Dance 301, 317C, 317D

Note that while no single course may be used to fulfill two core areas simultaneously, in most cases students may satisfy both a core requirement and a major requirement with a single course.

Students graduating under a catalog prior to 2016 should follow the recommendations listed above or view the core course list in their undergraduate catalog.

1 See complete listing of allowed nine hour Natural Science & Technology Part II pairings.

2 Students who use NSC 306J and NSC 306K to fulfill Natural Science and Technology Part I may also use either NSC 306L or NSC 306M to fulfill the requirements for Natural Science and Technology Part II.

3 Students who take the NSC 306J and NSC 306K sequence to complete Natural Science and Technology Part I many not use physical science or physics coursework to satisfy Natural Science and Technology Part II. Students who use physical science or physics coursework to satisfy Natural Science and Technology Part I many not use NSC 306J to complete Natural Science and Technology Part II.

4 Students who use Natural Sciences 306J and 306K, physics, or physical science courses to complete Natural Science and Technology Part I may not use Science 365 to complete Natural Science and Technology Part II.