Curriculum
The SPU Mathematics Department offers two minors, Mathematics and Data Analytics.
Once you choose your path, you will take core courses and electives that explore the wide expanse of mathematics, preparing you for your future career, whether you plan to teach in a classroom, go to graduate school, focus on research, or enter a business field.
General Education requirements in mathematics
To fulfill the University’s graduation requirements, all students are required to complete a general education quantitative reasoning requirement as a part of the Exploratory Curriculum. Through their Ways of Knowing in Quantitative Reasoning (WKQR) courses, students will learn to reason abstractly and deductively, understand and analyze data, and become fluent in quantitative problem-solving.
Students in WKQR courses should:
- Develop competency in meaningful ideas of mathematics, including deductive reasoning, quantitatively-oriented problem-solving, and analysis of data.
- Develop an appreciation for and an ability to use quantitative methods as a powerful means for problem-solving and decision-making.
- Increase the quantitative and logical reasoning abilities needed for a liberal arts education, the workplace, and informed citizenship.
All of the courses that fulfill this requirement are college-level mathematics courses that require a certain level of mastery of basic mathematical skills as a prerequisite. See Math Placement for more information about the prerequisites for these courses. Find out more about the WKQR requirement and other General Education requirements in Seattle Pacific’s Undergraduate Catalog.
Our mission
The Department of Mathematics and Data Science at Seattle Pacific University sees mathematics as a holistic endeavor – logical, beautiful, and useful – not only for our majors, but to all students and departments we serve. Our calling is to teaching excellence: demonstrating mathematics and statistics as a language which students can utilize to understand and model the world around us. We seek to nurture and support students from a myriad of backgrounds, uplifting those from underrepresented groups. We value sharing our expertise and wisdom with the community through research, service, leadership, and individualized care for our students.
Students will develop mathematical and statistical competency, learn to communicate mathematically in both written and verbal form, and cultivate an ethos of professional, principled behavior, poised to be good stewards as they venture onward.