For many Ursinus students, the biggest challenge isn’t passing classes, it’s getting into the ones they’re required to take. At Ursinus College, the Open Questions Core Curriculum is designed to push students beyond traditional classroom learning. The LINQ requirement falls under the Core question, “How can we understand the world?” and asks students to engage with topics using different academic perspectives. Instead of learning through a single discipline, students must connect ideas across majors through classes, paired courses, or interdisciplinary programs. The structure of LINQ courses often involves coordination between departments or instructors. This means they are inherently less common than traditional classes. While interdisciplinary learning is valuable, its limited availability makes things complicated. When a requirement is mandatory but difficult to access, it raises questions about fairness and practicality. While the intention behind LINQ is academically valuable, the limited availability of these courses create unnecessary stress for students trying to graduate on time. This shortage of courses can create real consequences. Students may be forced to rearrange their schedules, take classes that fall outside their academic interests, or delay completing other core requirements. For student-athletes, double majors, or those with strict schedules, the lack of flexibility can be especially frustrating. What is intended to be an enriching academic experience, can become a stressful process in one’s education. At the beginning of this registration period, I only saw one course labeled as a LINQ, titled Contemporary Issues in Public Health in the Yucatán. Since then, more LINQ courses have been added, but the registration website is unclear about exactly which classes qualify. Not every course that qualif ies as a LINQ is clearly listed as such which makes the registration process confusing for some students. My personal experience with this system has been stressful as well. I was unable to find any LINQ classes over my four years that worked with my busy schedule as a student athlete. I decided to complete a Film Studies minor, which would fulfill the LINQ requirement. However, I ended up taking a class that was not listed as a LINQ, but ended up being, in fact, a LINQ course. So in my case I was lucky. ThIs past week, I was able to hear from a student in their junior year at Ursinus who preferred to remain anonymous. They expressed serious concern about the lack of available LINQ courses, saying it could directly impact their ability to graduate on time. Despite planning ahead each year, they explained that LINQ classes were consistently full: “Freshman year… seats were full. Sophomore year, same scenario. Junior year, same scenario.” Now approaching their senior year, they feel the pressure of limited options, calling it “a coinflip chance…I might be missing a class that is quite literally going to decide whether or not I get a diploma.” The student emphasized that the issue is widespread, noting that, “I am not the only student who has this issue,” and even described the situation as “a crisis” for the college. They also expressed frustration with changing requirements, saying they had taken courses that no longer counted: “I put in my time, just for me to walk into the following semester and be like, where did my completed requirements go?” Ultimately, they argued the problem lies with the institution, not students: “This is a school issue… the school’s resources should be available to me to take a set class,” they said. Ursinus College prides itself on “offering a personalized, interdisciplinary education” and expanding LINQ course offerings would align with that mission. Whether by increasing the number of interdisciplinary collaborations, offering more sections, or ensuring consistent semester-to-semester availability, the college has clear opportunities to improve the system. Ultimately, the issue is not the LINQ requirement itself, but with how it is implemented. Students should not have to compete for access to a graduation requirement. If Ursinus truly values interdisciplinary learning, it must ensure that every student has a fair and reasonable opportunity to experience it, not just those who happen to register at the right time. Unless changes are made, the lack of LINQ courses will remain a key point of concern in conversations amongst students about the Ursinus curriculum.
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