The U requires 12 general education classes, not including the five required for a bachelor’s degree. The administration states that their goal “is to fulfill the requirements of the State of Utah’s policy R470.” According to College Express, taking general education classes is not just to learn about “a bunch of fluff” — it is to help you grow as an individual. Of course general education requirements become a financial burden, but the upsides to them outweigh the downsides enormously.
There is something sickening about colleges loosening general education requirements. Yes, it does allow students to fast track their desired goal and begin their career sooner. However, it takes away vital components of becoming a holistic student. Colleges are on the path to producing graduates on a conveyor belt system — teaching what they need to know, testing them and sending them off to do their jobs. But college is a time to experience different aspects of life and to find out your interests that fall outside of your area of study. In recent surveys it has become clear that employers are looking for employees that are not only knowledgeable in their field, but also have a wide variety of interests and the ability to apply knowledge from other studies. One of the top 10 things employers are looking for, according to Forbes, is an employee that “can obtain and process information.” This is directly asking for someone who has the ability to learn and can apply that learning. Colleges should be less concerned with producing an employee and instead encourage them to become better students.
There is no way to deny that general education requirements cost time and money. Some would argue that learning information outside of their field is a waste of time, something that keeps them from their own learning. This opinion is shortsighted and does not account for what is important in the long run. Producing a student who can continue to observe, learn and teach is far more important than going through the motions quickly.
Leaving college is the beginning of something new, a place where you are no longer hand-fed information through lectures, online classes, textbooks and review sheets. In the “real world,” you are asked to take all of your knowledge and apply it to different situations. Producing students on a conveyor belt only harms them in the long run, students should be taught how to use what they know and encourage them to learn more. There are few ways to ensure this outside of giving students a wide variety of resources to learn from, and to trying to produce well-rounded individuals.
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