The Core Four: Huntington University Switches to New Curriculum

For the first time in seventy years, Huntington University switches its core curriculum to the Core Four.

By Johnathan Christian | October 26, 2026

HUNTINGTON, Ind. – Huntington University has officially changed its core curriculum for the first time in seventy years. At the start of the 2026-27 school year, the university switched its old core requirements to the Core Four, which aims to give students a well-rounded Christian liberal arts education

The Core Four courses include Created to Belong, Created to Flourish, Created to Discover, and Created to Create.

Created to Belong explores Christian connection with the community and the world in terms of knowledge and thinking. Created to Flourish looks at how to achieve wholeness through a Christian worldview. Created to Discover finds out what is true through math and science. Created to Create looks at the beauty and art that humans can create.

Huntington University stands out as the only university to have a curriculum like this. Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Luke Fetters developed it after noticing that students were missing out on the Christian education experience that Huntington University promises.

“More and more students are bringing in those general ed requirements with them from previous experiences,” Fetters said. “The credits that they’re bringing in aren’t faith integrated.”

Previously, the core requirements for students were 48 credits for those pursuing a Bachelor of Science and 60 credits for a Bachelor of Arts. The new core will include 12 Core Four credits, 28-29 general education credits, and immersive experiences that will give students hands-on experiences outside of the classroom.

Hoping to recenter the academic program on faith while still rewarding students for earning transfer credits, Fetters gathered twelve administrators in August 2024 with the goal of developing a new curriculum in one year.

Through biweekly meetings, the group invented a concept for a new curriculum before meeting with the university’s faculty, Student Government Association, and the Board of Trustees for revisions. After it was approved in April 2025, the new Core Four courses were born.

The courses are written with specific standards that are seen across the classes while still allowing professors to bring their own area of expertise into the course.

“Each of the ‘Created to’ courses will have these common experiences while still having a unique approach that fits the faculty member,” Fetters said.

The curriculum received positive feedback from students at Huntington University’s Arizona campus who switched cores starting in the summer of 2026.

“The faculty were really enjoying it, and the students were responding quite positively to it, so I had high hopes that this fall would be a similar experience on this campus,” Fetters added.

Since the curriculum rolled out at the Indiana campus, Fetters has yet to receive negative feedback from students regarding the Core Four. Because of this, he is certain it will stay around for a while.

“I doubt that it’ll last seventy years like the previous core,” Fetters said, “but we’re committed to having a distinctive Huntington University experience that really does embrace who we are historically as a liberal arts university that absolutely is faith forward, and I think this does it.”