Freshman Program
Freshman at LAU: Where you start your career path with confidence.
Overview
The Freshman Program at LAU consists of 30 credits taken over one year. Prior to advancing to their sophomore year, students must complete various courses and fulfill specific requirements.
Upon successfully meeting all the freshman program requirements, students become eligible to declare their major.
- Students admitted to the “Freshman Arts” program can pursue any Bachelor of Arts degree, Bachelor of Science in Business, Interior Design and Graphic Design.
- Students admitted to the “Freshman Science” program can pursue any Bachelor’s degree.
Admission to any field of study will involve an evaluation of the applicant’s eligibility and academic background, in addition to considering the specific requirements for each major/department.
In addition to the list of courses, all Freshman students are required to take the workshop series.
Program Objective
The freshman year prepares you to pursue higher education within the requirements defined by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Who to Ask about the Freshman Program
If you have any questions or concerns, contact the academic advisors:
- For the Beirut campus contact Dania Tibi at dania.tibi@lau.edu.lb
- For the Byblos campus contact Mary Saad at mary.saad@lau.edu.lb
Curriculum for Beirut campus
Workshop Series
This workshop series will provide you with contemporary skills and knowledge within the framework of Liberal Education learning outcomes. The series focus on activities that will aid students discover their own talent and potential for a successful university life and future careers.
WRK101: Skills for the Future
Description: This workshop is based on the philosophy of education as presented by Howard Gardner. The principle underlying this course is to highlight the different types of skills, characteristics and values that form the foundation of a good student, citizen and human being in general. The course will include in addition to the three-hour workshop, a pre- and a post- exercise. The pre-exercise is an icebreaker to engage students to think about their needs whereas the post exercise will be a letter written to their future selves.
WRK102: Your Inquisitive Mind
Description: The workshop is structured around three sets of activities, each of which will help students engage with an area of critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making. By the end of this workshop, students will have had a taster of some of the most important strategies that can be deployed to manage and develop their naturally inquisitive mind. Students will be encouraged to understand, embrace and celebrate their academic performance; and they will be challenged to be reflective and realistic about their potential and how they can help themselves achieve their best performance.
WRK103: Sneak Peek @ LAU & Beyond
Description: This workshop allows students to discover academic resources, tips, and strategies to get them started on the right path and to improve their academic achievement. It also helps them understand the different admission requirements for each major. Another goal of this workshop is to help students find an adequate major and clarify how they can benefit from Career Development Services while at LAU and after graduation.
Freshman Arts - Semester 1
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 1011 | Academic English I | 3 |
| BUS 105 or MTH 101 or STA 1022 | Business Mathematics or Calculus I or Basic Mathematical Statistics | 3 |
| CHM 101/BIO101 | General Chemistry/Introduction to Biological Science | 4 |
| POL 230 | Citizenship | 1 |
| WRK 10X3 | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Humanities4/Social Sciences5 | Refer to the list of courses | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
Freshman Arts - Semester 2
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 102 | Academic English II | 3 |
| Humanities4/Social Sciences5/Free Electives6 | Refer to the list of courses | 13 |
| WRK 10X | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 16 |
1 Placement in an English course is dependent on English entrance exam results (SAT, TOEFL, etc.). Students placed into ENG009 must take all other English courses listed in this program.
Students placed into ENG102 compensate for credits by taking an additional course from the Humanities and Social Sciences Courses or from the Elective Courses listed below.
Students placed into upper-level English courses compensate for credits by taking two additional courses from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses listed below or by taking one course from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses list and another from the Elective Courses listed below.
2 BUS105 is required for students planning to join the School of Business. Freshman arts students who plan to join any school other than the School of Business can take STA102 to fulfill the math core requirement.Students can take STA102 in addition to BUS105 or MTH101, the former will be considered Elective and the latter math core requirement.
3 Students are required to pass (P) two out of the three workshops (WRK1-1, WRK102, WRK103)
WRK 101: Skills for the Future
WRK 102: Your Inquisitive mind
WRK 103: Sneak Peak @ LAU & Beyond
4 Humanities
ARA 101: Arabic Essay Reading & Writing I
HST 101: 20th Century History of Lebanon & the Region
PHL 101: Introduction to Philosophy
5 Social Sciences
BUS 101: Introduction to Business
POL 101: Introduction to Political Science
PSY 101: Psychology for All
ECO 101: Survey of Economics
SOC 101: Sociology & Society
6 Free Electives
PFA 102: Music History
ART 102: Art Appreciation
PFA 101: Appreciation of Performing Arts
POL 237: Basics of Leadership
Freshman Science - Semester 1
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG1011 | Academic English I | 3 |
| MTH101 | Calculus I | 3 |
| CHM101 | Chemistry | 4 |
| BIO101 | Introduction to Biology | 4 |
| WRK 10X2 | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 14 |
Freshman Science - Semester 2
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 102 | Academic English II | 3 |
| MTH 102 | Calculus II | 3 |
| PHY111 | Mechanics | 4 |
| Humanities3 | Refer to the below courses | 3 |
| Social Sciences4 | Refer to the below courses | 3 |
| WRK 10X | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 16 |
1 Placement in an English course is dependent on English entrance exam results (SAT, TOEFL, etc.). Students placed into ENG009 must take all other English courses listed in this program.
Students placed into ENG102 compensate for credits by taking an additional course from the Humanities and Social Sciences Courses or from the Elective Courses listed below.
Students placed into upper-level English courses compensate for credits by taking two additional courses from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses listed below or by taking one course from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses list and another from the Elective Courses listed below.
2 Students are required to pass (P) two out of the three workshops (WRK101, WRK102, WRK103)
WRK 101: Skills for the Future
WRK 102: Your Inquisitive Mind
WRK 103: Sneak Peak @ LAU and Beyond
3 Humanities (minimum 3 credits)
ARA 101: Arabic Essay Reading & Writing I
HST 101: 20th Century History of Lebanon & the Region
PHL 101: Introduction to Philosophy
4 Social Sciences (minimum 3 credits)
BUS 101: Introduction to Business
POL 101: Introduction to Political Science
PSY 101: Psychology for All
ECO 101: Survey of Economics
SOC 101: Sociology & Society
Free Electives (depending on the English level)
PFA 102: Music History
ART 102: Art Appreciation
PFA 101: Appreciation of Performing Arts
POL 237: Basics of Leadership
Curriculum for Byblos campus
Freshman Arts - Semester 1
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 1011 | Academic English I | 3 |
| BUS 105 or MTH 101 or STA 1022 | Business Mathematics or Calculus I or Basic Mathematical Statistics | 3 |
| POL 230 | Citizenship | 1 |
| Humanities4/Social Sciences5 | Refer to the course list | 3 |
| Free Elective6 | Refer to the course list | 3 |
| Free Elective6 | Refer to the course list | 1 |
| WRK 10X3 | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 14 |
Freshman Arts - Semester 2
| Number | Course | Cr. |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 102 | Academic English II | 3 |
| CHM 101/BIO101 | General Chemistry/Introduction to Biological Science | 4 |
| Humanities4 | Refer to the list of course | 3 |
| Social Sciences5 | refer to course list | 3 |
| Free Electives6 | refer to course list | 3 |
| WRK 10X3 | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 16 |
1 Placement in an English course is dependent on English entrance exam results (SAT, TOEFL, etc.). Students placed into ENG009 must take all other English courses listed in this program.
Students placed into ENG102 compensate for credits by taking an additional course from the Humanities and Social Sciences Courses or from the Elective Courses listed below.
Students placed into upper-level English courses compensate for credits by taking two additional courses from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses listed below or by taking one course from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses list and another from the Elective Courses listed below.
2 BUS105 is required for students planning to join the School of Business. Freshman arts students who plan to join any school other than the School of Business can take STA102 to fulfill the math core requirement. Students can take STA102 in addition to BUS105 or MTH101, the former will be considered Elective and the latter math core requirement.
3 Students are required to pass (P) two out of the three workshops (WRK1-1, WRK102, WRK103)
WRK 101: Skills for the Future
WRK 102: Your Inquisitive mind
WRK 103: Sneak Peak @ LAU & Beyond
4 Humanities
ARA 101: Arabic Essay Reading & Writing I
HST 101: 20th Century History of Lebanon & the Region
PHL 101: Introduction to Philosophy
5 Social Sciences
BUS 101: Introduction to Business
POL 101: Introduction to Political Science
PSY 101: Psychology for All
ECO 101: Survey of Economics
SOC 101: Sociology & Society
6 Free Electives
PFA 102: Music History
ART 102: Art Appreciation
PFA 101: Appreciation of Performing Arts
POL 237: Basics of Leadership
Freshman Science - Semester 1
| Number | Course | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG1011 | Academic English I | 3 |
| MTH101 | Calculus I | 3 |
| CHM101 | Chemistry | 4 |
| BIO101 | Introduction to Biology | 4 |
| WRK 10X2 | Refer to the list of freshman workshops2 | 0 |
| Total | 14 |
Freshman Science - Semester 2
| Number | Course | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ENG 102 | Academic English II | 3 |
| MTH 102 | Calculus II | 3 |
| PHY111 | Mechanics | 4 |
| Humanities3 | Refer to the below courses | 3 |
| Social Sciences4 | Refer to the below courses | 3 |
| WRK 10X | Refer to the list of freshman workshops | 0 |
| Total | 16 |
1 Placement in an English course is dependent on English entrance exam results (SAT, TOEFL, etc.). Students placed into ENG009 must take all other English courses listed in this program.
Students placed into ENG102 compensate for credits by taking an additional course from the Humanities and Social Sciences Courses or from the Elective Courses listed below.
Students placed into upper-level English courses compensate for credits by taking two additional courses from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses listed below or by taking one course from the Humanities/Social Sciences courses list and another from the Elective Courses listed below.
2 Students are required to pass (P) two out of the three workshops (WRK101, WRK102, WRK103)
WRK 101: Skills for the Future
WRK 102: Your Inquisitive Mind
WRK 103: Sneak Peak @ LAU and Beyond
3 Humanities (minimum 3 credits)
ARA 101: Arabic Essay Reading & Writing I
HST 101: 20th Century History of Lebanon & the Region
PHL 101: Introduction to Philosophy
4 Social Sciences (minimum 3 credits)
BUS 101: Introduction to Business
POL 101: Introduction to Political Science
PSY 101: Psychology for All
ECO 101: Survey of Economics
SOC 101: Sociology & Society
Free Electives (depending on the English level)
PFA 102: Music History
ART 102: Art Appreciation
PFA 101: Appreciation of Performing Arts
POL 237: Basics of Leadership