MSMU Undergraduate Learning Goals
Our Undergraduate Learning Goals are a unified statement of the outcomes of a Mount Saint Mary’s University education. This education is guided by the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, which embraces the liberal arts, sciences, and humanities to educate the whole person – mind, body, and spirit. The outcomes represent the University’s commitment to helping our students become reflective individuals who use their knowledge, skills, and imagination to serve their communities and our world.
A Mount Saint Mary’s graduate will demonstrate depth of learning through being proficient in the content and methods of her/his discipline or field.
The graduate will demonstrate breadth of learning through mastery of the liberal arts and sciences as appropriate to the degree. In particular, a graduating student will be a(n):
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Complex Thinker who applies investigation, critical thinking, and analytic and decision-making skills to identify and solve problems effectively.
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Clear communicator who effectively conveys ideas, opinions, and facts in written and oral form.
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Informed and participatory citizen with a commitment to service and an appreciation for the environment in which she/he lives.
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Effective Leader and Contributor who takes initiative, functions as a team member, makes sound moral judgments, and works in a global context.
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Life-Long Learner who appreciates and is curious about the world in which she/he lives.
Undergraduate Degree Program Descriptions
Associate Degree Programs
Through the Associate degree programs on the Doheny Campus and Fully Online, students have the opportunity to develop academic competencies and enhance their self-development through involvement on and off campus. Faculty and staff offer excellence in their specialized fields and show concern for the individual student.
Courses of study are offered which lead to the degrees of Associate of Arts and Associate of Science. Primarily these degrees are offered on the Doheny campus.
All students entering an Associate degree program are required to complete placement tests in reading, writing, and math prior to registering for classes. Four semesters are usually required to complete the an Associate degree; students who require supplemental work in mathematics or English may need one or two additional semesters.
This program is designed to prepare students for transition to a Baccalaureate program on the Chalon Campus or another institution or direct entry into a career after graduation.
Baccalaureate Degree Programs
Mount Saint Mary’s University offers courses of study leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. Primarily these are offered at the Chalon Campus.
Within the liberal arts tradition, the curriculum provides the student with a broad and liberating background in the arts and sciences, and aims at developing his or her ability to communicate knowledge and to apply appropriate principles and techniques to particular problems. During the junior and senior years, the students pursue deeper study in their major areas of concentration and take related elective courses.
Baccalaureate Weekend and Evening College
The Weekend and Evening College on the Doheny Campus of Mount Saint Mary’s University and the Fully Online Program is an innovative approach to learning that provides working adults with the opportunity to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Applied Psychology, Liberal Arts, Gerontology (available Fully Online), Sociology, English, Religious Studies, English and Business Administration, Film & Media, or a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Business Administration (available Fully Online), Social Work and Criminology (available Fully Online). In four years, students can earn their degrees while continuing to fulfill their full-time obligations to their careers and families.
The Weekend and Evening College is not an accelerated program. Instead, it is a complete college experience, based on traditional curricula whose content has been organized in new ways and then redistributed so that classes, which would traditionally be spread out evenly over a fifteen-week semester, are concentrated into six intensive weekends. These weekends are non-consecutive and are scheduled in such a way that there is a space of at least two weeks between each class weekend. Adult students, even if they work full-time during the week and have, in addition, family and personal obligations, are nevertheless able to perform comfortably and successfully if they have developed a reasonable degree of maturity and motivation. Those who take the full-time load of three live courses per semester spend the whole day in classes on both Saturday and Sunday on each of the six weekend sessions. We also offer courses in the evening and online in order to meet the needs of our students.
The program is designed for both men and women, part-time or full-time students, and for those who bring with them transfer credits from other colleges as well as students who are just beginning their college education. Teachers who exemplify Mount Saint Mary’s academic excellence Monday through Friday also teach courses with low student-teacher ratios on weekends in the Weekend and Evening College. Students who receive a four-year bachelor's degree from the Weekend and Evening College (spend comparable hours in the classroom), receive the same outstanding quality of instruction, and are certified as possessing the same high level of knowledge and skills as the graduates of Mount Saint Mary's renowned weekday University.