Four years. That's the goal that the University of South Carolina has in mind for its students. Four years of classes and then, if all goes according plan, the university gets to hand you your hard earned diploma. It seems like a lot of work to do for one small slip of paper saying you are certified to work in a certain field.
Nowadays, however, college degrees are all but required at many work places. So I understand why college is necessary, but what I don't understand is why general education courses are.
If you've ever been to an advising appointment, you've no doubt had the list of Carolina Core courses laid out in front of you and been told you will have to complete them before graduating. I have taken far more general ed courses than major-specific courses, and I'm sure the majority of underclassmen have as well. Whenever I bring up how it seems counterintuitive that I'm memorizing the periodic table while attending college for a public relations degree, I am told that it's about creating a "well-rounded" person.
The problem I have with this explanation is that I have already taken all these courses before in high school. The history course I am taking this semester will mark the third time I have learned about the Reconstruction era. I understand why it is important to know basic history, chemistry and English, but forcing college students to relearn everything they already learned in high school? That's just a ruse to steal money from us.
Imagine how much quicker we could graduate if we could immediately enroll in major specific courses. The whole reason we are paying absurd amounts of money to attend college is in order to get a degree in our majors.
Every internship I've ever had has told me I will learn far more in my short time with them than I will in all my four years of college. I have found that to be true. I already feel robbed by having to pay vast amounts of money and driving myself into debt to get a degree — but I feel even worse knowing that I am paying to learn things that I have already been taught and will not help me in my career.
For those college students who are still determining what their major will be, by all means take general ed courses. They can be beneficial in finding a career path. But for those of us who already know where we want to go and how to get there, general eds are a waste of time. I have changed my major once, but it had nothing to do with a general ed course. It had more to do with the major-specific course I was taking not lining up with what I wanted in my future. So the argument that general ed courses help students change their career paths is a weak one, as I have found that major-specific courses can do the same.
The whole college process is already expensive, intensive and lengthy. Why make it longer with unnecessary classes? From where I stand as a college student, I can only see one reason: profit. While college students are drowning in debt because of these extra courses, universities are making money and keeping students here longer.
Universities need to give power back to the students, treat them as smart enough to choose their own coursework and let them decide for themselves whether or not they would benefit from general eds.