Notes

Semesters There is a 14-week fall semester, a 1-month January term, and a 14-week spring semester.  All semesters/terms are required of every student.

 

Degrees 

• At the end of the sophomore year, all students will earn an Associate of Arts degree (63 credits). 

• At the end of the senior year, all students will earn a Bachelor of Arts Degree (132 credits). 

 

Majors

There are no majors in the curriculum. 

 

Career Preparation

There is an erroneous but commonly held notion that students must have professional degrees to be employable.  This is true for a handful of certain disciplines, such as engineering.  However, for the vast majority of positions in the work force today, a liberal arts degree is ideal preparation.  A 2016 Forbes article points to the following qualities that employers seek when hiring:

• Self-direction

• Ability to point to successes

• Self-knowledge of strengths

• Ability to think independently

• Ability to problem-solve

• Ambition

• Proactivity

• Happiness in learning new things

• Goal-oriented behavior

• Ability to work well on a team

• Responsibility.

 

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/03/02/12-qualities-employers-look-for-when-theyre-hiring/2/#6bd213e6e32f

 

These qualities are the domain of a liberal arts education.  That is to say, a liberal arts education is, in and of itself, excellent preparation for many careers.

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Pre-Professional Preparation

Although the curriculum of the Collegium is an unapologetically liberal arts program, there are certain characteristics of both the curriculum and the advising process that will prepare students to prepare for work in some professional areas:

• Business Students will work in the Collegium’s auxiliary enterprise, Heavenly Roast Coffee. This work will give students experiential learning in the areas of production, marketing, sales, management, operations, accounting, and budgeting. 

• Music -  A small number of students will have the opportunity to do some musical study beyond the actual curriculum.  These students will be accepted into this study by audition.  The curriculum will include some applied instruments study (taken at additional cost); music theory; a more intensive music history sequence, and some formal training in chant.  The curriculum will not equate to a music major in a school of music.  Rather it will be more like an intensive minor. 

 

Minors

There are no formal minors in the curriculum.  Students wishing to do additional professional study will be assisted with advising that will help them to accomplish this with summer study at another institution.  For example:​

• Pre-Med – Any student can qualify to apply for most medical schools (MD degree – other medical degrees have slightly different requirements) with the following courses, which can be taken during summers at another approved institution:

  • 2 General Chemistry courses

  • General Biology

  • Organic Chemistry

  • 2 Physics courses

  • Biochemistry

  • An advanced math course.

    In addition, we will work with "pre-med" students to take some of these math courses at the

    nearby College of Central Florida in place of the regular math and science courses at the

    Collegium whenever this is possible.​

• Pre-Law – There are no specific courses required for law school.  However, taking a summer course to prepare for the LSAT exam is recommended.

 

These are given simply as examples.  The Collegium will work with students who are interested in professional career preparation to make sure that these students are taking any courses that they might need during the summers.

 

Course Delivery

The college is, and must be, a residential program in order to fulfill its mission as a formative institution.  There are residential faculty to assist with that formation, to instruct students in courses, and to take care of the various administrative needs of the college.

 

In addition, a small number of part-time faculty – individuals who are qualified and who meet that standards of commitment to the mission, goals and policies of the college – are hired from around the globe to teach courses through streaming technology.  The courses are “live;” students gather in classrooms, and instructors stream into the classes from distant locations.  The technology exists today that allows such classes to be taught by qualified and committed faculty whom the college cannot afford to hire on a full-time basis.  The technology also exists today that enables such classes to be as interactive as if the instructors were physical present and to be of a quality that is indistinguishable from courses in which the instructors are physically present.

 

Accreditation

The college will seek accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the regional accrediting body for the South, as soon as SACS guidelines permit.  In the meantime, the college is already preparing for the accreditation process.

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****See Thomas E. Woods, Jr., How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2005), also Edward Schaefer, Catholic Music Through the Ages (Mundelein, IL: Hillenbrand Books, 2008).

*****“He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is charity.” (1 John 4:8)