Students registering for fall classes next week will see fewer, broader course options under Columbia’s redesigned core curriculum, a shift faculty say may offer more flexibility but could make it harder to tell what a class actually covers.
The Fall 2026 course catalog, released Monday, April 6, reflects a restructuring of how classes are organized within the core, with many previously specialized courses combined into broader, interdisciplinary offerings. Administrators say course content is not being eliminated but incorporated into these wider course frameworks.
For example, a previous course such as HIST-226 “The Holocaust (1939-45)” is no longer listed as a standalone offering. Instead, it is now incorporated into a broader course called SOSC-110 “Social Problems,” which examines issues like poverty, racism and gender inequality through the lens of culture, institutions and systems of power.
While the five core categories have already appeared in students’ degree audits under the updated system, the new catalog shows how courses within those areas have been consolidated into a smaller, more streamlined set of offerings.
However, some of those details may not be immediately clear to students when they first view the catalog.
“The course description is general, and while there is space for subtitles, I don’t know that those subtitles are going to be on there when people go this time,” Ames Hawkins, director of the School of Communication and Culture, said. “It’s really about the timing of the scheduling process.”
Students may need to rely more on course descriptions, subtitles or advising to understand specific topics within broader classes.
Under the revised core, some major courses can now count toward general education requirements, allowing students to fulfill them within their primary field of study rather than through separate classes.
Hawkins, a professor in the School of Communication and Culture, said the updated core is designed to reflect the interests and identities of Columbia’s student body.
“We maintain a minor in queer and gender studies because that’s our students. We maintain a minor in Black world studies. We maintain a minor in Latinx and Latino studies,” Hawkins said. “Those minors then start to make clear what your courses are going to be and then that’s what we know students are picking.”
Hawkins said the changes are intended to create a clearer path to graduation while allowing students more freedom to explore their interests.
The redesigned core requires 30 credits, down from 42, and includes categories such as Aesthetics and Creative Expression, Quantitative Reasoning, Communication, Historical and Cultural Understanding and Scientific Discovery. Students must also complete three additional core-designated courses within those areas.
“Over the last two years, the Columbia Core Curriculum Committee has been approving new courses, or changes to existing courses, to fit the new required categories of the 30-credit Columbia Core,” Steven Corey, dean of Academic Programming, said.
Hawkins said broader courses are also designed to give instructors more flexibility in how topics are taught.
“There’s plenty of room for that faculty member to bring that into the class,” Hawkins said, referring to specialized subjects being incorporated into broader course themes.
Some faculty say the shift reflects a more interdisciplinary approach to teaching but caution that outcomes may vary depending on who is teaching the course.
“It just depends on who’s teaching it honestly,” Robert Hanserd, an associate professor in the School of Communication and Culture, said.
“For our students, who are Black and Brown, who make up a good portion of our population, we need to have the same balance of faculty teaching the courses that are drawing on the strengths of African American experience, life and history and culture and experience, to tell better stories and to teach better,” Hanserd said, who is teaching HIST-381 “The Black Atlantic” this semester.
The previous core followed a more traditional disciplinary model, where students fulfilled requirements through specific subject-based courses. The new structure moves toward broader interdisciplinary categories that better reflect how students learn and how complex issues are addressed today.
The overhaul also reduces the number of core course offerings, narrowing a catalog of more than 400 courses to a smaller, more manageable selection that the college can consistently offer each year.
Hanserd, who worked on redesigning some African American courses, said broader, topic-based classes can help align the curriculum with the college’s evolving needs and allow instructors to tailor content to students’ creative interests and career goals.
Other faculty say the broader structure strengthens the role of the core in a creative education.
“A strong broad core is totally essential for creatives to be educated citizens and also to fully understand the political, historical, socio/economic and scientific processes that frame their experiences,” Marcelo Sabatés, a professor in the School of Communication and Culture, said.
Sabatés, who is teaching HIST-256 “Hispanics in the U.S. Since 1800” this semester, emphasized that as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, the college’s core curriculum plays an essential role in addressing the marginalization of students of color, first-generation and LGBTQ+ students.
“A strong core is the place where creatives work together with other creatives from different fields, probably for the first time,” Sabatés said. “This offers a unique opportunity for collaboration that will be extremely valuable preparing them for the real world.”
The reduction in core requirements is part of a broader restructuring effort first proposed by former President and CEO Kwang-Wu Kim in his 2024 advisory report to address the college’s financial deficit. The plan included reducing the core from 42 to 30 credits to allow students more flexibility in their schedules and focus more on their majors.
The changes are part of an effort to streamline offerings and align the curriculum with the college’s enrollment and financial realities.
Columbia’s enrollment dropped to 3,958 students in Spring 2026, the first time enrollment has fallen below 4,000 in more than two decades, as the Chronicle previously reported. The college also is trying to address a $40 million deficit.
Hawkins acknowledged that some students may notice the absence of specific courses they expected to see.
“It’s confusing to those who might have been waiting for a particular course,” Hawkins said. “Otherwise, I don’t think it’s confusing.”
Hanserd said students will likely want clearer details about what each course entails under the new structure.
“Everyone’s kind of got to be on the same page about what these broad kinds of categories and curricula mean,” Hanserd said.
Registration for continuing degree-seeking students begins April 13, with students having received assigned registration times in advance.
Copy edited by Katie Peters
