Common Academic Program (CAP)

Community of Learners

The Common Academic Program (CAP) is an innovative curriculum that is the foundation of a UD education. It is a learning experience that is shared in common among all undergraduate students, regardless of their major. The CAP’s distinctive structure is built on the notion that, while students will have unique experiences at UD, all academic programs and learning encounters are informed by the seven institutional learning goals articulated in the Habits of Inquiry and Reflection (HIR):

• Scholarship
• Faith Traditions
• Diversity
• Community
• Practical Wisdom
• Critical Evaluation of Our Times
• Vocation

We are a community of learners pursuing learning from myriad perspectives and with a wide range of interests, yet we share commonality in our aspirations.

The CAP is an evolving, flexible curriculum that is responsive to the changing times while remaining grounded in the HIR principles and Catholic and Marianist intellectual traditions. Students begin with a set of courses that all UD undergraduate students complete and then put together a program that suits their own interests and goals as they progress throughout our developmental model. Both curricular and co-curricular aspects of students' lives at UD resonate with the seven learning goals.

Unlike many other institutions, the CAP is not a general education model in which students pick from lists of courses and check boxes of requirements that are disparate. Rather, the CAP is an integrated approach that builds and demonstrates connections across various aspects of student learning.

Why the CAP?

We live in a global society that is constantly changing. As tomorrow's leaders, UD students must understand its complexities and how to respond thoughtfully to its challenges and opportunities. 

The CAP introduces key questions and topics across a wide range of academic disciplines. Students will learn to value and synthesize diverse points of view and to examine issues critically, yet with an open mind.

Our students, through the CAP, are ready to pursue their life aspirations and be lifelong learners.