• Core classes are Interdisciplinary. Professors from different subject areas work together in team taught classes. Students are taught how to synthesize material from many disciplines such as history, modern languages, psychology, the sciences, sociology and religion. At times this is more academically challenging for students, but we think it is important that their studies be rigorous.

• Writing is emphasized across the curriculum. Whether studying the humanities or arts or any other area of core curriculum, students are constantly being challenged to improve their writing skills.

• Critical thinking skills are taught and applied to all areas of instruction. This helps produce graduates who are problem solvers and leaders, and "not mere reflectors of other men’s thoughts."

• Faith and learning are integrated in the core curriculum. Religion based on Seventh-day Adventist values permeates all subjects of core classes. We are determined to do this better than we have done in the past.

• The new interdisciplinary general education curriculum requires 20 credits in religion–more than any other west coast Adventist college. Some may have been confused on this point because we use the course prefix of CORE rather than RELG–but CORE 205, 304, and 404 are religion courses according to the academic standards of most colleges and universities.

• All students are required to take a course in Adventist beliefs–CORE 304, Adventism in Global Perspective. Only one other SDA college or university in North America requires a class that focuses on Adventist history and beliefs, and encourages students to deal with serious lifestyle issues.

• All students are required to take a capstone course, Core 404, Religious, Moral and Social Aspects of the Academic Discipline. This senior level course causes students to examine their personal values in relationship to the social and moral issues that arise from their major area of study.

• Students are now required to take eight credits in Bible or theology, beyond core religion classes. This requirement has been increased as a result of student and faculty evaluation. All Adventist colleges and universities allow students to take classes in Biblical studies, theology, or religious studies to fulfill general education religion requirements. LSU is not different from the other SDA schools in this respect.

• Each core class is evaluated on 15 variables by every student that takes the course. These evaluations are carefully examined by faculty, and numerous changes have been made following every course taught as the result of student evaluations. Most important, every core course shows improvement in student evaluations over the past two years.

• Student evaluations reveal that no core course offered this year has received a rating of less than satisfactory (on a five point scale, with 5=excellent, 4=very good 3=satisfactory 2=poor and 1=very poor). Most recently, three courses received average evaluation scores of very good.

• All core class credits transfer to other colleges and universities, and students transferring into La Sierra can have other schools general education courses count in place of our core classes. Because more and more state universities and other private institutions have their own secular core programs, they too are becoming accustomed to accepting core class credit. The University is committed to aiding all students in resolving this issue.

• The new University Studies program at La Sierra actually requires fewer general education credits than the previous general education program. The new program is more streamlined and will not slow the progress of our students, or lengthen the time needed to complete degree requirements.