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Curriculum - General Engineering

The student must complete a minimum of 50 credits in engineering, engineering sciences (ESC) and interdisciplinary engineering (EID), in addition to fulfilling all the requirements for the bachelor's degree. The course requirements can be summarized as follows:

 Credits
Core Courses (freshman and sophomore)55
Humanities and Social Sciences
(over and above the core courses)		12
minimum
Engineering and Engineering Sciences
(over and above the core courses)		45
minimum
Free Electives23
Total credits135


Each student is assigned to a faculty advisor and, in consultation with the advisor, devises an academic program to suit his or her own needs. Students may choose from all courses available at The Cooper Union and may work in such interdisciplinary areas as environmental and energy resources engineering, systems and computer engineering, bioengineering and ocean and aerospace engineering. Students who are considering applications to other professional schools after completing the engineering degree are advised to take one year of organic chemistry and one year of biology for medicine and dentistry, additional courses in the social sciences for law and one year of economics for business. Such students should consult their faculty advisor in order to design a minor concentration to meet professional goals and degree requirements.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.