diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
index 153e37ed82..caf3901e03 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views.py
@@ -1487,6 +1487,12 @@ def create_new_course(request):
 
     new_course = modulestore('direct').clone_item(template, dest_location)
 
+    # clone a default 'about' module as well
+
+    about_template_location = Location(['i4x', 'edx', 'templates', 'about', 'overview'])
+    dest_about_location = dest_location._replace(category='about', name='overview')
+    modulestore('direct').clone_item(about_template_location, dest_about_location)
+
     if display_name is not None:
         new_course.display_name = display_name
 
diff --git a/cms/templates/settings.html b/cms/templates/settings.html
index 3923c0f905..0a647c632e 100644
--- a/cms/templates/settings.html
+++ b/cms/templates/settings.html
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ from contentstore import utils
             <li class="field text" id="field-course-overview">
               <label for="course-overview">Course Overview</label>
               <textarea class="tinymce text-editor" id="course-overview"></textarea>
-              <span class="tip tip-stacked">Introductions, prerequisites, FAQs that are used on <a class="link-courseURL" rel="external" href="${utils.get_lms_link_for_about_page(course_location)}">your course summary page</a></span>
+              <span class="tip tip-stacked">Introductions, prerequisites, FAQs that are used on <a class="link-courseURL" rel="external" href="${utils.get_lms_link_for_about_page(course_location)}">your course summary page</a> (formatted in HTML)</span>
             </li>
 
             <li class="field video" id="field-course-introduction-video">
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/store_utilities.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/store_utilities.py
index e90613d0da..6beffcb71d 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/store_utilities.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/store_utilities.py
@@ -13,10 +13,19 @@ def clone_course(modulestore, contentstore, source_location, dest_location, dele
     if not modulestore.has_item(dest_location):
         raise Exception("An empty course at {0} must have already been created. Aborting...".format(dest_location))
 
-    # verify that the dest_location really is an empty course, which means only one
+    # verify that the dest_location really is an empty course, which means only one with an optional 'overview'
     dest_modules = modulestore.get_items([dest_location.tag, dest_location.org, dest_location.course, None, None, None])
 
-    if len(dest_modules) != 1:
+    basically_empty = True
+    for module in dest_modules:
+        if module.location.category == 'course' or (module.location.category == 'about'
+                                                    and module.location.name == 'overview'):
+            continue
+
+        basically_empty = False
+        break
+
+    if not basically_empty:
         raise Exception("Course at destination {0} is not an empty course. You can only clone into an empty course. Aborting...".format(dest_location))
 
     # check to see if the source course is actually there
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/about/overview.yaml b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/about/overview.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0031ebffaf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/templates/about/overview.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+---
+metadata:
+    display_name: overview
+
+data: |
+               <section class="about">
+                  <h2>About This Course</h2>
+                  <p>Include your long course description here. The long course description should contain 150-400 words.</p>
+
+                  <p>This is paragraph 2 of the long course description. Add more paragraphs as needed. Make sure to enclose them in paragraph tags.</p>
+                </section>
+
+                <section class="prerequisites">
+                  <h2>Prerequisites</h2>
+                  <p>Add information about course prerequisites here.</p>
+                </section>
+
+                <section class="course-staff">
+                  <h2>Course Staff</h2>
+                  <article class="teacher">
+                    <div class="teacher-image">
+                      <img src="/static/images/pl-faculty.png" align="left" style="margin:0 20 px 0">
+                    </div>
+
+                    <h3>Staff Member #1</h3>
+                    <p>Biography of instructor/staff member #1</p>
+                  </article>
+
+                  <article class="teacher">
+                    <div class="teacher-image">
+                      <img src="/static/images/pl-faculty.png" align="left" style="margin:0 20 px 0">
+                    </div>
+
+                    <h3>Staff Member #2</h3>
+                    <p>Biography of instructor/staff member #2</p>
+                  </article>
+                </section>
+
+                <section class="faq">
+                  <section class="responses">
+                    <h2>Frequently Asked Questions</h2>
+                    <article class="response">
+                      <h3>Do I need to buy a textbook?</h3>
+                      <p>No, a free online version of Chemistry: Principles, Patterns, and Applications, First Edition by Bruce Averill and Patricia Eldredge will be available, though you can purchase a printed version (published by FlatWorld Knowledge) if you’d like.</p>
+                    </article>
+
+                    <article class="response">
+                      <h3>Question #2</h3>
+                      <p>Your answer would be displayed here.</p>
+                    </article>
+                  </section>
+                </section>
+children: []
diff --git a/common/static/images/pl-course.png b/common/static/images/pl-course.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1a3da9e631
Binary files /dev/null and b/common/static/images/pl-course.png differ
diff --git a/common/static/images/pl-faculty.png b/common/static/images/pl-faculty.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b55ba44542
Binary files /dev/null and b/common/static/images/pl-faculty.png differ
diff --git a/lms/static/sass/multicourse/_course_about.scss b/lms/static/sass/multicourse/_course_about.scss
index d23917fe27..0982577f42 100644
--- a/lms/static/sass/multicourse/_course_about.scss
+++ b/lms/static/sass/multicourse/_course_about.scss
@@ -272,7 +272,9 @@
       }
 
       .course-staff {
+
         .teacher {
+          @include clearfix;
           margin-bottom: 40px;
 
           h3 {
@@ -312,7 +314,7 @@
           }
         }
       }
-      
+
       .faq {
         @include clearfix;