General Education Courses Are A Waste Of Time

General education classes are a common aspect of universities all across the country. However, after examining the statistics, I believe that colleges are requiring too many classes outside of students’ majors. Not only are students forced to enroll in courses that they are not interested in, but they are also struggling to stay motivated in school. Since students are not retaining the information gained in these classes, colleges are also putting these individuals in an unnecessary amount of debt. While there is merit in taking these general courses, the amount of classes needed over four years is discouraging and expensive. Universities across the country should reduce the amount of general education requirements to five courses in order

Personally, I am currently enrolled in a marine biology course simply because it was the only science class left to fulfill my requirement this semester. As an English major, I have no interest taking this class and I find myself struggling to comprehend information that I will never need to know for my future career. Similarly, in an article for her school newspaper titled “General Education Courses are a Waste of Time and Money,” student Alyssa Pracz discusses her experience with taking general education courses. She argues, “The fact is that most students don 't approach these courses with the same sort of devotion as they do with classes they see as being useful. Professors, however, tend to teach the material as if everyone taking the class is planning on majoring in the subject” (Pracz). Students approach these general education courses with low expectations, and tend to be disappointed when they find themselves struggling to grasp material that is not suited toward their interests. This can cause students to become

For many students, their first two years at college are spent taking required classes outside of their major. Since many students are stuck in classes that they will never remember or need material from, this is an extreme waste of money. In the opinion article “General Education Requirements are a Waste of Money, Hurt the Economy,” Jay Cranford, a finance major at Louisiana State University, discusses his how these general education courses are adding to students’ debt. He argues, “LSU students pay around $291 per credit hour in tuition and fees per year, which means over my college career, I unnecessarily paid about $6,111 …This generation of students — making the bold assumption they all graduate — will pay around $34.3 million in general education classes” (Cranford). At LSU, Cranford wasted over $6,000 in information that was irrelevant to his career path. With college prices already being at an all-time high, students should not be paying for classes and textbooks that they do not need. Through reducing the amount of required classes, universities would be saving students thousands of dollars in debt. This could also allow students from low-income families to attend colleges because they would be able to save their money for courses that count toward their degree. For colleges who enact a lower amount of required general education courses, this could also appeal to incoming