Discussion: Making College Relevant

This post is part of the Teachers Certification Map’s “discussion series,” a collection of posts featuring highlights and questions around the evolving state of education aimed at enlightening young teachers as they embark on their careers.

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Thomas College has a new policy on education (via New York Times):

Students who can’t find work in their fields within six months of graduation can come back to take classes free, or have the college pay their student loans for a year.

But..wait. There’s more:

The University of Louisiana, Lafayette, is eliminating its philosophy major, while Michigan State University is doing away with American studies and classics, after years of declining enrollments in those majors.

What’s going on and why the change in attitude? Let’s look at the stats:

Consider the change captured in the annual survey by the University of California, Los Angeles, of more than 400,000 incoming freshmen. In 1971, 37 percent responded that it was essential or very important to be “very well-off financially,” while 73 percent said the same about “developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” In 2009, the values were nearly reversed: 78 percent identified wealth as a goal, while 48 percent were after a meaningful philosophy.

Discussion: What methods, from either the perspective of a student or teacher, can you use to receive an education outside of “just” a major?

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