United World College-USA
AC-1: Academic Courses

UWC-USA uses the curriculum of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program. The course inventory includes all courses that were offered to students starting UWC-USA in 2019. Courses in the IB are divided into six groups, plus the Theory of Knowledge. These are considered analogous to Departments, making 7 Departments in all. Courses are divided into Higher Level (HL) and Standard Level (SL) with students generally taking three of each. According to the IB website: "Both SL and HL courses are meant to span the two years of the Diploma Program. SL courses are recommended to have at least 150 hours of instructional time, and HL courses are recommended to have at least 240 instructional hours. In most cases both SL and HL courses consist of the same educational aims, core syllabus and curriculum and assessment models. HL courses typically also include a range of additional elements designed to allow students to explore areas of interest within the subject in more depth." At UWC-USA, due to the small numbers of students in some courses, the HL and SL students are sometimes taught simultaneously, with the additional materials being taught to the HL students in supplementary class periods. For the sake of this analysis, HL and SL versions of the same subject are treated as variations of a single course. Identification of individual courses as "sustainabilty-focused" and "sustainability-informed" was based on discussions (in person or via email) with individual teachers after the AASHE credit guidelines were shared.