Graduation Requirements

These 120 credit hours can be reached by taking a combination of Core, major courses, minor courses, and (if necessary) general electives.  

If a student wants to complete their degree in eight semesters, they will need to take an average of 15 credits per semester. Students in some larger majors will take more than 120 credits over their four years and will have a higher average credit load per semester.  

This includes completing or transferring credit for all required courses with the minimum necessary GPA and grades. For most majors, students must earn a C- grade to pass a class and at least a 2.0 cumulative GPA to graduate. Some majors have higher grade requirements; details about those grade requirements can be found in the Academic Catalog.  

Loyola University Chicago is made up of eight individual schools or colleges, each of which houses between one and sixty-two different majors. Students can check what school or college their major belongs to here.  

Alongside major and Core requirements, students may need to complete coursework in a language other than English or writing intensive coursework depending on the School or College requirements. See the chart below for the requirements for each school or college. An “X” on the chart indicates the requirement exists for that College or School.  

An “X” in the table above means the school does have the requirement.

The Loyola University Core curriculum is made up of 16 courses (48 credit hours) in 10 subject areas. Some Core subject areas include one required tier or course (such as Artistic, Quantitative, and Ethics Core), while others have two required tiers or courses. If a subject area has two tiers, students should plan to complete Tier One (Foundational) requirements before taking Tier Two courses. Students must earn at least a D in Core classes to earn credit, except UCWR 110 (College Writing Seminar) which requires a C- grade to pass.  

Because Core coursework overlaps with major course content, all majors at Loyola automatically satisfy at least one Core area, waiving students in the major from the Core courses in that subject area. For example, since Biology majors are required to take Biology, Chemistry, and calculus, they are not required to complete Scientific or Quantitative Core. Some, though not all, minors also exempt students from Core coursework. You can check for these Core waivers based on major or minor on the Core website. 

The Loyola Core also includes UNIV 101 (a one-credit transitional seminar taught in pass/no pass format) and three credit hours of Engaged Learning. Engaged Learning takes many different forms but generally involves experiential learning beyond traditional classroom experiences. Options include service learning, internships, public performance, undergraduate research, or fieldwork. Students in some majors will complete this requirement automatically, while many will need to seek out opportunities within or beyond available courses in their major.