If you’ve ever had to suffer through a course so boring that you wanted to gauge your eyes out, then this post is for you. There has been a lot of debate recently about core curriculums and higher-level education institutions requiring general education courses for students. The debate is pretty black and white, most people are either for or against gen eds, and few are in the middle.

Personally, I think that general education classes at the college level are unnecessary. In primary and secondary schools, there is a National Common Core Standard that outlines what children should be learning in each grade level from K-12. The goal of this standard is to prepare students for life after high school. Some of these standards include learning how to read, write, multiply, and divide. Obviously, these are basic life skills that everyone should know how to do. I specifically remember that in my elementary school you learned cursive and multiplication in third grade and long division in fourth grade. Standards like these are very important for facilitating a society of well-educated and independent learners, thinkers, and innovators. 

However, I think this standard for general education does not need to continue as students mature. Once you’re in college, I find that some classes are not needed for certain people. As a disclaimer though, I’m a huge advocate for well-rounded learning and expanding beyond your comfort zone. I have a million different interests and have actually run into the problem that there are too many classes that I want to take and too little time to take them all. On the other hand, there are classes that I wouldn’t touch with a 39 and a half foot pole (I’m looking at you specifically history department). 

I think it is time to redesign this whole idea of general education. There is an abundance of surveys that illustrate students’ personal opinions of gen ed requirements. And the majority of them rarely view gen eds as any more than a nuisance checklist that they have to work their way through. More often than not students expressed that gen ed courses take away time from other classes that would better hold their interest. Another argument against gen eds is that many of them are repeated courses from high school. I’m currently enrolled in Physics 211, and I can tell you that it is exactly like my AP Physics course from last year. We even use the same online homework platform. 

Many colleges are shifting from a core curriculum to an open curriculum. An open curriculum often allows students to fully design their own path. Of course, there are required courses for majors, but outside of that, there are few to no other requirements. Brown University is famous for this. They boast that the only class required by all students is a single writing course.

I think it’s pretty clear that the best way to keep students in college and enjoying learning is to let them choose what they want to learn.