Essential Education is Michigan Tech’s forward-thinking, student-centered core education curriculum structured around four learning goals and 12 Essential Abilities—the critical skills that tomorrow’s workforce needs. The program lets Huskies take ownership of their learning and prepare for success after Michigan Tech, both personally and professionally.
Through the Essential Education curriculum, students will:
- Receive an introduction to the Michigan Tech experience and the wide range of opportunities available at the University.
- Take courses that strengthen 12 Essential Abilities—including courses in both STEM and SHAPE* fields.
- Think deeply and broadly about the big questions of our time, applying the tools and insights of multiple disciplines to become agile, culturally aware, and creative thinkers.
- Participate in activities that promote their well-being and success.
- Complete high-impact experiences, including first-year seminars, an ePortfolio to showcase their accomplishments during their time on campus, and more.
Plus, students will have the option to choose between two distinct pathways, with one allowing them to earn an interdisciplinary minor with no additional time or money.
* SHAPE: Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts for People and the Economy/Environment
General Education vs. Essential Education
Essential Education Adds Efficiency and Value to General Education
Under Michigan Tech's general education curriculum, all majors on campus are required to take 27 credits of core, HASS, and co-curriculars that may not be double counted with major requirements. In Essential Education, the credit requirement is reduced to 24—a credit savings that will benefit all majors on campus. Courses formerly offered as co-curricular units will become curricular credits as part of a broader category, Activities for Well-being and Success, which includes additional courses addressing mental health and well-being, leadership, and personal development.
The rules for double counting are also changing with Essential Education, providing more flexibility for programs and for students who change majors.
With general education, majors may double-count all of their general education STEM courses with their major requirements but may not double-count any of their HASS credits. In the new Essential Education system, majors have flexibility of choice about which of the 13 Essential Education requirements they will satisfy through major requirements. This will ensure equity across majors.
Rather than thinking about double-counting credits, it is more straightforward to think about how major requirements can satisfy Essential Education requirements. This is due to the fact that some majors require specific math or science courses that are worth more credits than the number required by Essential Education.
See our Frequently Asked Questions page for more information and comparisons between the curricula.