At the heart of a Mount education is the Core Curriculum, an interdisciplinary Liberal Arts and Sciences curriculum. A graduate of the College, therefore, will possess not only the professional skills necessary for success in the workplace, but also qualities associated with a liberally educated person able to thrive in a complicated and diverse world. Some of those skills are thinking critically and creatively, communicating effectively, appreciating the complexity of human behavior, knowing the relation among various ethical systems, and appreciating the relationship of Roman Catholicism to other belief systems.

All students take 52 credit hours in courses in the Core Curriculum. Six credits are specifically devoted to interdisciplinary studies (IDS). First time students* begin with a three-credit Foundations Seminar course (IDS 100) which introduces the individual Liberal Arts and Sciences areas, discusses the various ways each discipline views the world, and shows the benefits of integrating these views when problem-solving. This preliminary course also addresses general skills, practices and expectations of college study. Later, students take another three credits from a 200- or 300-level IDS course of their choosing. This upper-level course provides students the opportunity for further practice in integrating disciplines by examining a specific problem or subject too complex to treat with just one discipline. 

Thirty-seven credits of the Core Curriculum are distributed among Liberal Arts and Sciences courses which expand upon concepts and approaches to learning introduced in IDS 100. Students fulfill these credits by choosing from courses in the following areas: Humanities (12 credits), Social Sciences and History (9 credits), Natural Sciences and Mathematics (7 credits), Religious Studies and Philosophy (6 credits), and Ethics (3 credits). Courses selected in the Humanities ask students to interpret the value of creative and esthetic processes in their lives, and give them practice in effectively communicating their thoughts in oral and written form. Selections from the Social Sciences and History show students the relationship between self, society and the world at large, and how this connection developed over time. Choices in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics expose students to the principles and methodology of scientific inquiry, and how quantitative reasoning aids in the interpretation of the natural world. Courses in Religious Studies and Philosophy allow students to explore the spiritual and conceptual dimensions of their lives by comparing their personal religious and philosophical traditions with those of the college and of other cultures. In Ethics classes, students address questions of right and wrong, values, and appropriate choice and responsibility for the actions they take in their lives.

Nine credits* of the Core Curriculum are electives drawn from a wide selection of additional courses in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, and/or more IDS courses. These classes afford students the opportunity to sample a wide variety of topics, or to pursue a personal interest in greater depth.

*Transfer and non-traditional students follow similar but varied guidelines for meeting the IDS and Core Curriculum LAS requirements.