What Will College Students Learn?
Posted August 21st, 2009 at 9:16am in First Principles 
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Around the country, many parents and students are preparing for the first day of school. For high school seniors, this means time is running out to select the best college; for many college students, this means perusing the course catalog and wondering if “Introduction to Popular TV and Movies,” and “Science of Stuff” are still open.
The U.S. News and World Report, released yesterday, is often the first stop when students (and parents) consider which college to attend. Harvard, Princeton, and Yale routinely rank as the top three national schools. U.S. News and World Report’s rankings may be helpful in determining the average SAT score of the freshman class or highlighting the prestige of a school. But, these rankings do not address the question of what do students learn.
Enter American Council for Trustees and Alumni’s new website www.whatwilltheylearn.com
What Will They Learn fills the void left by U.S. News and World Report by examining schools based on their required core classes. Specifically ACTA asks whether students are required to take composition, literature, a foreign language, U.S. government or history, economics, mathematics, and natural or physical science course. Schools requiring six or more of these core subjects receive an A, while schools that require one or less receive an F.
The results may surprise you. Schools like Yale fail with an F, and Princeton receives a Gentleman’s C. Interestingly, out of the seven colleges that receive an A, three of them reside in Texas. Three cheers to Baylor, University of Texas, and A&M for keeping the core curriculum alive!
For the high school students and parents looking for colleges this year and for those college students wondering if “Underwater Basket Weaving” will fit in their schedule, check out www.whatwilltheylearn.com and think about what the rigor of core classes can do for you.
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3 Responses to “What Will College Students Learn?”
Ozzy6900, CT on August 21st, 2009 at 9:16am said:
Composition? Literature? A foreign language? These are things that should have been taught from grade school through High School. This is not college material, unless you wish to specialize in these fields. College is supposed to be to prepare you for LIFE and you place in it! Not to cover ground that was neglected in lower studies because of constant, Government mandated testing!
We have students entering colleges that do not even know a tenth of what we had to know just to get into high school! Most of this was mandatory in grammar school when I was young. But I guarantee you that every little bunta knows about Global Warming and that America is the cause of all the problems in the World!
No, college is a place where your education is entwined with your future. Where your lower education blossoms and your brain is trained to think and resolve problems. It is a place to grow with more information and fact that you could digest in a lifetime, all to prepare you for a future and the rest of your life!
And I never even went to college! But I have learned a lot from my children who have!
jim sardis,ms. on August 21st, 2009 at 9:16am said:
with professors like Bill Ayers and Ward Churchill our universities have turned socialist and radical.with unions and government jobs taking the place of free enterprise,where are all the educated going to work? if they find jobs,the pay structures will be controlled by a czar.the college kids are what elected the radical.it seems everyone wants the government to supply the American dream by living on welfare entitlements and staying in the poverty zone by working part time.everything used as necessities for everyone will have to be taxed to support the government run nation.
Bobbie Jay on August 21st, 2009 at 9:16am said:
Elementary through high school has been destroyed. There are more programs on acceptance, then really focusing on the core curriculum. College is just further indoctrination into the presidents perfect world. I believe life experiences teach much more of reality then government-run schools and some colleges, today.