Academics

An Oglethorpe education is rigorous, challenging and powerful. It combines the Oglethorpe Core, a four-year interdisciplinary course sequence that all OU students experience together, with your choice of more than 60 areas of study. You won’t spend your first two years cramming in general education requirements like they do at the big state schools. Here, you can get started on your major right away in small, personalized classes.

The Oglethorpe Core is an intentionally designed 4-year sequence of courses, with each course building upon the body of knowledge in the previous course. Along with faculty and classmates from all majors, you will share an intellectual exchange that addresses life’s big questions. You'll learn about yourself, the global community, the historical perspectives that brought us here, and how all of these come together.

Our faculty are active scholars and experts in their fields, but teaching, mentoring, and collaborating with undergraduates is their passion. You will never be taught by a graduate assistant (we don't have them). Our student-faculty ratio is 15:1, our average class size is 17, and 99% of our classes have fewer than 30 students.

Your success begins with a year-long advising program that matches you with a personal academic and life advisor who will help you to identify and achieve your education, career and personal goals. Your advisor is also a mentor and friend who will connect you to what you need to survive and thrive in your first year at Oglethorpe and keep you on track to graduate in four years. Our student success programs also offer free tutoring, writing support, supplemental instruction and individualized accommodations.

Are you looking for an extra challenge? One that will make you stand out on your grad school applications? In the Oglethorpe Honors Program, you will work closely with a faculty member over the course of your education to develop your own independent project, completing and defending an honors thesis and presenting it at our annual Symposium in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.