Do More of What Matters.
Your UW-Stout education starts with 40 foundational Stout Core credits. These classes are designed to build confidence and the collaborative, analytical/quantitative, communication and critical-thinking skills in high demand by employers, all while offering you the freedom to choose options that enhance your degree. And with a little planning, you can earn a many of our degree minors in the process.
Whichever polytechnic programs you pursue, Stout Core will give you more time in your field of study and make sure that you graduate ready to do on day one.
Stout Core Disciplines at a Glance
Communication Skills
Written and verbal expression is at the heart of who we are as individuals and how we interact with the world. These communication classes won't just improve your reading, writing and speaking skills, they'll help you discover interpersonal, career-focused and civic-minded ways to be a bigger, better part of an ever-evolving world.
Analytic Reasoning & Natural Sciences
Analytic reasoning is core to your intellectual development—it's how you build knowledge and critical-thinking skills and what you use to solve problems. In these classes, we'll use math, logic, statistics, or computer science learning experiences to make sure you're ready to get the most out of your degree program. The natural sciences component will enhance your knowledge of the physical world through a hands-on lab experience, and you'll have plenty of choices to capture your curiosity—astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, nanotechnology, even sustainability.
Arts & Humanities
Building on your critical-thinking, core arts classes at the university level engage your imagination in ideation, production and analysis of artistic and cultural objects or performances, and they offer you an avenue to explore the unconventional. Our related humanities classes will deepen your cultural appreciation using literary, aesthetic and intellectual experiences to reinforce the value thought and emotions play in your education at Stout.
Social & Behavioral Sciences
Your core social and behavioral sciences classes will both familiarize you with societal, cultural and group behaviors through the lens of sociology, economics, political science and cultural anthropology and raise awareness of your personal psychological behaviors and how they impact your relationship with others.
Social Responsibility & Ethical Reasoning
At Stout, we prepare you to lead an active, ethical life—in your academic discipline, in your professional field and in your community. Your social responsibility and ethical reasoning class will help you identify and analyze ethical issues, consider different perspectives and recognize the personal values that ensure you not only do more but that you do what's right.
Additional Requirements
After fulfilling credit minimums in the categories above, you'll still have a few credits left to reach your 40. In addition to taking more classes from the lists above, you can take credits listed under the Exploring Outside the Major and Supporting Health & Wellbeing categories.
Racial & Ethnic Studies; Global Perspectives
Part of a polytechnic education developing a deeper appreciation for the diverse perspectives you'll collaborate with in your career, both in the U.S. and around the world. As you select courses in the various categories above, two classes must be cross-listed on our Racial & Ethnics Studies list and two classes must be listed on the Global Perspectives list.
