Undergraduate Studies
The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts

Wagner College’s curriculum unites deep learning and practical application. The Wagner Plan incorporates our longstanding commitment to the liberal arts, experiential learning and interdisciplinary education with our geographical location and enduring bond with New York City.
Beginning your very first semester at Wagner, you not only study issues and learn critical-thinking, writing and problem-solving skills, but you also see and practice what you’re learning. Through Learning Communities and Reflective Tutorials led by our dedicated faculty, you get hands-on experience to the world outside the classroom.
Under the Wagner Plan, you complete a liberal arts core program and a major, totaling 36 units/courses. Students complete three Learning Communities (LC’s) — the First-Year Program, the Intermediate Learning Community, and the Senior Learning Community.
If you’re admitted to the Honors Program, courses are designed to stimulate and challenge you intellectually and to offer exceptional academic and co-curricular opportunities. Honors courses are more challenging, involve more discussion/debate, and require longer and in-depth research papers and oral presentations. The Program is affiliated with the National Collegiate Honors Council.
Leadership Through Ethics
One of the Freshman Learning Communities, "Leadership Through Ethics" spent time volunteering to revitalize Los Potrillos, a restaurant in Port Richmond.
Watch Leadership Through Ethics
Food, History and Culture
This Intermediate Learning Community gives first-year students an opportunity to bridge two disciplines—anthropology and history—around a single topic, food. Part of The Wagner Plan, this interdisciplinary approach prepares students for careers where they need to bring disparate pieces of information together into a coherent whole.
Watch Food, History and Culture
5-Year Microbiology Program
Dr. Corbo and Monica Cipriani '17 invite you to learn more about the 5-year microbiology program, earning you a BS and MS within five years. With small classes, dedicated faculty, and required undergraduate research, microbiology at Wagner prepares students for a wide range of careers.
Watch 5-Year Microbiology Program
Chris DeFilippi profile
Chris DeFilippi stops on his commute to the Clinton Foundation to chat about his Wagner experience as a government & politics major.
Watch Chris DeFilippi profile
Faculty Profile: Prof. Lori Weintrob, history
Prof. Lori Weintrob teaches history at Wagner College using visual images, films and novels to provoke discussion. Prof. Weintrob pushes students to "think outside the box" — then she takes them outside the classroom and into communities.
Photography: Lori Weintrob, Rita Reynolds, Anna Mulé, Corey Wascinski
Music: "Rythme Gitan" by Latché Swing (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license)
Production: Anna Mulé | Wagner College
Watch Faculty Profile: Prof. Lori Weintrob, history
Leadership Through Ethics
Teaching Glocal: Prof. Abe Unger
Food, History and Culture
5-Year Microbiology Program
Chris DeFilippi profile
Faculty Profile: Prof. Lori Weintrob, history