Core Curriculum

Fostering integral, interdisciplinary, and Ignatian formation

The heart of Ateneo education is its core curriculum.

As a Jesuit educational institution, the goal of the Ateneo de Manila is the integral formation of persons of discernment, learning, and action. With Christ as the model and inspiration of what it means to be fully human, the aim of the University is to form leaders in service of the global and local community, especially the poor, vulnerable, and excluded -- professionals of conscience, competence, compassion, and commitment.

The core curriculum was revised to incorporate the changes brought about by the K-12 basic education reform and the new requirements of the revised CHED General Education (GE) curriculum, beginning School Year 2018-2019. But more importantly, the review process and the new curriculum that emerged from it underscored the identity and mission of the Ateneo de Manila as a Filipino, Catholic, and Jesuit university.

The world-affirming nature of Ignatian spirituality has translated over the years into the primacy of the liberal arts in Jesuit education that is found in the core curriculum. It is the hallmark of Ateneo education.

A key feature of the core curriculum is its inner logic in the sequencing of the courses. The core curriculum strives for both academic competence and value formation through a deliberate progression of learning. The core curriculum courses are organized under four stages:

1) Foundations: Exploring and Equipping the Self
2) Rootedness: Investigating and Knowing the World
3) Deepening: Defining the Self in the World
4) Leadership: Engaging and Transforming the World

Ateneo students start from foundational courses that are meant to sharpen their language and communication skills and equip them with basic scientific and mathematical tools. Courses which explore faith and spirituality, and facilitate self-understanding, prepare students for investigating and knowing the world, and defining the self in the world – bringing them to a readiness to discern life-options and make life-choices. Our hope is that Ateneo graduates will become leaders who will engage the world and commit themselves to using their competences to work for social transformation, rooted in a mature Christian faith.

The Core Curriculum with the Major and Co-Curriculum Programs

What makes Ateneo education distinctive is the deliberate weaving together of the core, majors and co-curricula, so that the overall experience of learning imbues graduates with both specialized professional training and holistic formation. It is an education that is integral, interdisciplinary, and Ignatian – one that seeks to develop intellectual depth, enhance creative imagination, deepen social involvement, and nurture spiritual maturity. It is intended to form students as life-long learners who are able to discover and fulfill their distinctive calling and mission. In a world with much suffering and division, the Ateneo hopes that its graduates will become engaged citizens and transformative leaders in the service of reconciliation and justice in their chosen professional fields.