I went and checked what the general requirements were at my alma mater, and they have changed in the years since I went:
English: Passing the English composition sequence and passing the proficiency exam (usually 2 semesters of English composition)
Literature (2 classes)
Math 2 classes
Science 2 classes plus their labs, then one other science (this is more than when I was an undergrad) One of the subjects has to be biology, then one in the physical sciences
2 humanities and arts, split between the arts and humanities
2 classes in social studies (history is just one of several choices)
at least 1 class in computer literacy (exact competency may vary according to major)
proof of oral competency in some course
Classes are 3 credit hour classes.
Not much room for learning anything much outside of your speciality area....College is becoming more and more a glorified trade school instead of a place where everybody got a basic data set plus their speciality classes....
“.College is becoming more and more a glorified trade school instead of a place where everybody got a basic data set plus their speciality classes....”
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
That it is for sure. I once made the charge on FR that college is no longer concerned with education but is a place for training and indoctrination and I was flamed to a crisp. I still stand by it though. I went to the Navy class “A” electronics school which at the time was said to cover everything which was required for a bachelor’s degree in electronics minus the electives. The entire course was covered in 38 weeks of full time work. That was training for my job, it had nothing to do with education.
Learning to make a living is training. Learning to make a good life and teach others to make a good life is education.
There is precious little education offered in our public schools and nearly none in colleges and universities.
Most recent college graduates that I have met would probably not even qualify to enter a public high school of the nineteen fifties, let alone graduate. It is frightening to realize that they all are allowed to vote if they wish to, most have only a very foggy notion of what they are voting for.
“Education” has been devalued along with the currency, it is now common for employers to set a firm requirement for a minimum of a four year undergraduate degree on a job of the sort that used to be filled by a high school graduate at best and in many cases would have been filled by a high school dropout fifty or sixty years ago.