When will general education requirements ever end? How many times does a person have to take one class from each subject just to make it to where they want to be? Why does an English major need to take a class learning about rocks or trigonometry just to get the credits to transfer where they want to go?
General education classes are not necessary for college students. They take extra time and resources from students, whereas they could use that time to hyperfocus on what they want to learn and do. High school is the place for all this. A college education should be specialized towards the major a student picks. A science major should take math and science courses. They tie together. A psychology student should have to take a class about philosophy. They tie together. A journalism or an English major shouldn’t have to take a class about science or math. Those classes form a knot weaker than two Sweetarts ropes.
You may be saying “Those classes help students become well rounded?” If students want to fill up their schedules with every single subject so they feel “well-rounded” let them, but a jack of all trades is a master of none. When getting a job as a PE teacher, the principal isn’t going to ask if you passed Geology 200 or Film 100. They’re going to ask if you passed Kinesiology. When getting a job as a doctor, the head of staff isn’t going to ask if you passed political science 700. They want to know if you understand why milk is good for the bones and if you understand you might accidentally kill someone while treating them.
There is only one general education class that should stick around: English. Learning how to speak and write properly is beneficial in every job, even one as low as running a lemonade stand outside your house. The problem is no one knows why they are taking all these random classes other than it’s what’s required. If left up to the student’s choice, there is no way they would even pick half of these classes. Just think about it. Two, three, four, probably more hours of the day a student could get back if they didn’t have all the extra homework they probably cheat on so it gets done. They could use that time to hit the gym, go outside for a hike, work a job, or lock in on their side projects and major.
If a student wants to torture themselves by taking one class for each subject for two years straight then let them, but the right way to do it would be to have students take courses specific to their major and require nothing else. If a college doesn’t let you transfer because you didn’t take Culinary 2000 or Business Stats 2.5 when you’re an art major, then they have something wrong with their priorities. Leave the random class pathways to high school, and let students take what they need to take so they can save their time and money, instead of losing their minds in their bedroom at 2 a.m. over an assignment they don’t care about for a class they would never take if given the choice.
