The Open Curriculum of Undergraduate Education
At Maharishi International University, the Open Curriculum policy allows undergraduate students extensive flexibility to choose the courses they want to take while ensuring that all gain the general education, knowledge, and skills needed for professional success, personal fulfillment, and responsible citizenship in a rapidly changing world. Academic advisors guide students into experiences that promote a breadth of understanding about the human condition and that stimulate the growth of personal qualities that enable the student to contribute effectively to their society, nation and world.
MIU’s former general education requirements are now embedded in the context of the student’s major as appropriate. Previously required undergraduate courses on topics such as human physiology and consciousness, physics and consciousness, and higher states of consciousness will continue to draw a substantial portion of the student body, but students will achieve MIU’s Nine Core Abilities described below through experiences integrated in all their course work. This approach is appropriate to the more mature undergraduate student that MIU has been attracting in recent years. MIU’s program of assessment of student learning across the Nine Core Abilities enables us to validate our assertion that this open model of program design achieves our goals for undergraduate general education by means equivalent to the traditional distributed model.
Fundamental Components of MIU’s Open Curriculum
There are five fundamental components to the Open Curriculum policy at MIU:
- Experiences to develop the Nine Core Abilities are woven into all degree programs
- A Development of Consciousness program embedded in the curriculum
- A Forest Academy Program that begins every semester with a 1-2 credit course studying interdisciplinary themes introduced in the required introductory Exploring Consciousness course together with deep rest and rejuvenation
- 8-to-13 credits of required general education courses, some of which may be waived through transfer credit or examination
- A major of the student’s choosing
Nine Core Abilities
At Maharishi International University, the faculty are committed to helping students gain the knowledge and skills they need for professional success, personal fulfillment, and responsible citizenship in a rapidly changing world. The faculty have identified nine Core Abilities, skills widely considered essential in the 21st century regardless of one’s profession or path. Students are given abundant opportunities to exercise and strengthen these skills throughout their time here, building the foundation for a successful professional and personal life.
Our students have a unique advantage in developing these abilities, namely the inner growth they gain through Consciousness-Based education. By directly experiencing the Field of Pure Consciousness, pure creative intelligence - the source of all knowledge, total natural law - students grow in creativity and intelligence, happiness and peace. They feel increasingly at home with all knowledge and enjoy growing the support of natural law for fulfilling their own desires and creating a better world.
Development of Consciousness
Know your Self and act from the deepest level of your perception, thinking, feeling, and being.
Health
Develop your physical, mental, and emotional health.
Holistic Thinking
Connect ideas and actions to a greater whole, to universal principles, and to inner experience.
Creativity
Combine ideas, experience, and expertise imaginatively to generate new and meaningful ways of thinking, expressing, and doing.
Critical Thinking
Reason with logic and evidence, identify assumptions, and consider other perspectives fairly.
Communication
Listen, speak, read, and write effectively in a variety of contexts and media.
Problem Solving
Design and implement strategies to address challenges, achieve goals, or resolve conflicts.
Teamwork and Leadership
Cultivate a constructive and inclusive team process to envision and achieve goals.
Local and Global Citizenship
Take responsibility for elevating the quality of life for all people and for preserving and regenerating the natural world.
Development of Consciousness
Development of consciousness is the hallmark of MIU’s Consciousness-Based Education. This program offers many benefits for students - dissolving stress and fatigue, relieving anxiety, fostering happiness, cultivating creativity, intelligence, and learning ability, supporting fulfilling personal relationships, and promoting holistic health.
The Development of Consciousness program has two components:
Experience: The Direct Experience of Pure Consciousness Deep Within
This is what the Transcendental Meditation technique accomplishes. Students learn the TM technique either before or shortly after they arrive on campus. On-campus students practice their regular morning meditation either in a campus-wide group or in their rooms, and every class includes a ten-minute meditation before the lunch break and an afternoon group meditation at the end of class. Online students learn the TM technique from a certified TM teacher in their locatoin before or shortly after the start of class.
Knowledge: The Understanding of Consciousness and How It Develops
Human consciousness lies at the basis of all fields of study - every field is an expression of consciousness. At MIU, each course is taught in light of fundamental principles of consciousness. This helps students tie everything together. They discover the deepest principles in each field, see how each field connects with other fields, and connect what they’re studying to their own self. With Consciousness-Based education, students feel at home in every course.
Forest Academy
Each semester at MIU begins with a two-week block called the Forest Academy. Each Forest Academy block features a variety of interesting courses that students are free to choose from. Forest Academy courses also give students a chance to spend time with students in other majors and to begin each semester feeling fresh, clear, and recharged.
All Forest Academy courses have one thing in common: students take a deeper dive into both knowledge and experience:
Knowledge
Forest Academy courses cultivate deeper understanding of the principles of consciousness, how it develops through daily practice of the TM and TM-Sidhi programs, and how it can be applied in practical life. These courses help students connect their other studies with universal principles of natural law and transform that knowledge into something living and useful.
Experience
Most on-campus Forest Academy courses offer the option of a TM retreat (or World Peace Assembly for those practicing the TM-Sidhi program). Retreats run three days or more. Students find them transformational. The extra meditations of the TM Retreat program promote deeper experiences of transcending thought, and they dissolve accumulated stress and fatigue more quickly. The presentations and discussions in a retreat lead to deeper understanding of one’s personal growth. Online students may participate in a special half-day TM Retreats designed for remote learners.
Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi Programs
The Transcendental Meditation technique is practiced by all university students, faculty, administration, and staff, many of whom have also learned the advanced TM-Sidhi program. These technologies of Maharishi Vedic Science are practiced for the personal benefit of all students, faculty, and staff, separately from other programs or procedures. There are specific policies that support the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique and TM-Sidhi program. Each element of these technologies for the development of consciousness has been carefully structured to produce maximum benefit.
Required Undergraduate Courses
All undergraduate students are required to successfully complete three courses that establish a foundation for all further study at the university.
STC 108 Exploring Consciousness
This 4-credit course orients new MIU students to the university and to Consciousness-Based education. Students begin to explore the theoretical foundation for higher states of consciousness available through the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique. The course discusses the full range of consciousness from individual experience to a fundamental field of intelligence that underlies all of life and considers how this range of life is unfolded through Consciousness-Based education. New students not yet instructed in the Transcendental Meditation technique learn this simple, effortless practice as part of this course.
WTG 191 Writing for Career and Community 1
This 4-credit course requirement may be fulfilled with approved transferred credits from a prior college or university or waived without credit by passing the writing placement examination. Students may also elect to take the course for credit to acquire skills essential for academic and professional success by exploring the practical aspects of writing, creative expression, and communication.
WTG 192 Writing for Career and Community 2
This 4-credit course requirement may be fulfilled with approved transferred credits from a prior college or university, but many students elect to take the course to experience a deep dive into writing as a discovery process, explore their creative and analytical talents, and prepare for the future, whether in work or further study, with more robust tools and expertise.
The Undergraduate Major
All bachelor’s degree students must choose a major requiring a minimum of 48 credits of specific courses and electives in a focused field of study.
2024-2025 Degrees and Programs
Students can earn an MIU degree via one of three delivery modes. In on-campus programs, students take all courses on MIU’s campus. Online programs offer students the flexibility to complete a degree entirely online. Online programs that require students to come to MIU’s campus for a short course or in-person practicum are referred to as low-residency.
Undergraduate Degrees
On-Campus Undergraduate Majors
Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences
Bachelor of Arts or Sciences with an Individualized Major
Bachelor of Arts in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, Wellness Consultant Practicum Track
Bachelor of Arts in Art, Consciousness, and Creative Practice
Bachelor of Arts in Cinematic Arts and New Media
Bachelor of Arts in Consciousness and Human Potential
Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing
Bachelor of Arts in Business and Entrepreneurship
Bachelor of Arts in Enlightened Leadership
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
Bachelor of Science in Physics
Bachelor of Arts in Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Bachelor of Arts in Sustainable and Regenerative Living
Online Bachelor’s Degree Majors
Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science with an Individualized Major
Bachelor of Arts in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, Ayurveda Wellness Educator Track
Bachelor of Arts in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, Life and Wellness Coaching Track
Bachelor of Arts in Cinematic Arts and New Media
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Cinematic Arts and New Media
Bachelor of Arts in Consciousness and Human Potential
Bachelor of Arts in Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Online Bachelor’s Degree Majors, Low Residency
Bachelor of Arts in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, Ayurveda Wellness Consultant Track
Bachelor of Arts in Ayurveda Wellness and Integrative Health, Yoga and Ayurveda Wellness Track
Bachelor of Arts in Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Online Minors
Minor in Art
Minor in Ayurveda Wellness
Minor in Business and Entrepreneurship
Minor in The Business of Natural Health and Wellness
Minor in Cinematic Arts and New Media
Minor in Computer Science
Minor in Consciousness and Human Potential
Minor in Creative Writing
Minor in Enlightened Leadership
Minor in Literature
Minor in Mathematics
Minor in Physics
Minor in Sustainable Regenerative Living
Minor in World Peace
On-Campus Minors
Minor in Art
Minor in Ayruveda Wellness
Minor in Business and Entrepreneurship
Minor in The Business of Natural Health and Wellness
Minor in Cinematic Arts and New Media
Minor in Consciousness and Human Potential
Minor in Creative Writing
Minor in Life and Wellness Coaching
Minor in Literature
Minor in Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Minor in World Peace
Graduate Degrees and Programs
On-Campus Graduate Degrees
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential
MA in Enlightenment and Leadership
MA in Studio Art
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential
MBA in Accounting
MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning and Analytics
Executive MBA, Accelerated
MBA for Professionals in Accounting
MBA for Professionals in Enterprise Resource Planning and Analytics
MS in Computer Science
MS in Computer Science, Cooperative Program
MS in Foundations of Physics and Consciousness
MS in Physics
PhD in Maharishi Vedic Science
PhD in Management
Online Graduate Degrees
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential with Physiology and Health Specialization
MA in Leadership and Workplace Conflict Resolution
MBA in Enterprise Resource Planning and Analytics
MBA in Entrepreneurship (Ethiopia only)
MBA in Leadership and Workplace Conflict Resolution
MBA in Sustainable Business
Executive MBA, Accelerated
MFA in Creative Writing
MFA in Visual Art
MS in Aromatherapy and Maharishi AyurVeda
MS in Business Analytics and Technology
MS in Business Analytics and Technology, Cooperative Program
MS in Regenerative Organic Agriculture
EdD in Transformational Leadership and Coaching
PhD in Maharishi Vedic Science
PhD in Management
PhD in Physiology and Health
Online Graduate Degrees, Low Residency
Fellowship MS in Integrative Medicine and Ayurveda for Doctors and Advanced Practice Providers
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential with Physiology and Health Specialization
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential with Yoga Teacher Training Specialization
MA in Consciousness and Human Potential with Yoga Teacher Training Practicum
MFA in Screenwriting
MFA in Visual Art
MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine
MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine, Advanced Clinical Training Track
MS in Regenerative Organic Agriculture with Field Training Option
Certificate Programs
MIU students currently enrolled in a degree program are eligible to recieve a certificate in a variety of disciplines. The certificate will be awarded upon successful completion of the student’s degree program. Non-degree-seeking guest students enrolling an MIU certificate program or single course are not eligible for U.S. federal financial aid. MIU students currently enrolled in an MIU degree program may use their student aid awards funds toward completion of a certificate program.
- Advanced Graduate Certificate in Integrative Ayurveda for ABOIM Certified Physicians (online, low residency)
- Field Training Certificate in Regenerative Organic Agriculture (on-campus)
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
Other Certificates
On-Campus Certificates
Consciousness and Social Transformation
Consciousness Research
Digital Arts
Digital Music and Sound
Essentials of Filmmaking
Permaculture Design Certification (PDC)
Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Social Media Content Creator
Sustainable Building and Design
Sustainable Energy Systems
Yoga for Personal Practice
Online Certificates
Advanced Creative Writing Mentorship in Poetry
Advanced Creative Writing Mentorship in Fiction
Advanced Creative Writing Mentorship in Creative Nonfiction
Digital Arts
Digital Music and Sound
Essentials of Filmmaking
Permaculture Design Certification (PDC)
Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Social Media Content Creator
Writing Pedagogy: The Theory of Teaching Creative Writing
The Writer in the World: Professional Development
The Writer Online: Social Media Marketing and Strategy
Yoga for Personal Practice
Online with a Short On-Campus Residency
Yoga and Higher States of Consciousness
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