Welcome to COLLEGE!
Learn more about the new first-year Civic, Liberal, and Global Education (COLLEGE) requirement.
What is COLLEGE?
COLLEGE is more than just shorthand for the first-year Civic, Liberal, and Global Education requirement: it signals the purpose of the courses, and a vision for what a college experience can be. Going to college is not just about acquiring the ability to make a living, but about exploring what makes living worthwhile. It’s also about developing the skills that empower and enable us to live together: in our own communities, in a diverse nation, and in a globally connected society.
Four programs offer courses to fulfill the COLLEGE requirement:
COLLEGE Courses
Take two courses in different quarters. Choose from a selection of courses on liberal education, civic engagement, and global perspectives.
Education as Self-Fashioning (ESF)
Offered only in Autumn quarter, ESF is a combined seminar, writing section, and lecture, fulfilling both WR1 and one quarter of COLLEGE.
ITALIC
Year-long, immersive residential program focused on the arts; fulfills multiple requirements including COLLEGE. Students both practice and study art, but previous art experience is not necessary.
Structured Liberal Education (SLE)
Humanities-focused yearlong residential program fulfilling multiple requirements including COLLEGE: a liberal arts college experience within the research university.
COLLEGE in the News
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By Abandoning Civics, Colleges Helped Create the Culture Wars
COLLEGE faculty leaders explain the program vision in the New York Times (paywall)
September 03, 2023
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How Stanford is reimagining the undergraduate experience
COLLEGE invites students to reflect on their own place and purpose at Stanford, in society, and in the world.
July 14, 2023
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100 years ago, Stanford’s first general education requirement was a course on citizenship
The course was part of a series of changes that have shaped what undergraduate education at Stanford looks like today.
July 11, 2023