Are General Education Subjects Hurting Exams and GPAs?

By Isabella Dale

Colleges across the United States of America provide General Education subjects, a string of mandatory classes designed to prepare their students for the rigorous upcoming major courses soon to be faced in their various college careers. These courses include subjects like English, Mathematics, various sciences, Social Studies, and Language Arts. A common complaint of such a requirement is that much of the material covered in these classes are a repetition of previous schooling, and what some students and family members fail to understand is why these courses are required.

Photo credits: linkedin.com

Is this system undermining the efficiency and quality of High Schools in the nation? Do SAT and ACT scores not pre-established a student’s ability to attend college? If not, why must students take them? The biggest question of all though, is whether students are benefitting or suffering from these General Education subjects.

“I think most of my Gen Ed’s are a waste of time,” says Ryan Woods, an English native and first semester Freshman at the University of the Cumberlands, “I’ve already covered everything that is being taught here back at my old school.” Ryan claims the General Education subjects he is taking this semester, English Composition and College Algebra, is at a lower quality than that of his previous high school classes back home. 

Though viewed as a nuisance for some, others like Katharina Jaspers; also a first semester freshman at UC from Dusseldorf, Germany, believe General Education subjects benefit her greatly as she is able to “hone” her skills in reading and writing. “I enjoy going to these classes because my english isn’t great so it teaches me more about what I need to know for the future.” Many view General Education subjects as a necessity and a system that is helpful to their other college classes. Without these requirements Katharina claims she would not have been able to survive the semester and be fairly confident for the upcoming final exams in December. 

Photo credits: www.forbes.com

While The U.S. have made Gen Eds a requirement, other countries like Australia have a nationwide education system in which the only courses mandatory to graduate from either a public or private college are the ones necessary for your chosen major and minor. According to The University of South Australia, once completed with their chosen credit hours, students are then able to graduate without having to do extra hours involved in classes that stray from their academic focus. The benefits of such a system are lower debts after graduation, as students are able to complete their degrees at a faster pace, as well as a higher quality GPA that isn’t tarnished by subjects irrelevant to future career choices.

With multiple reasons as to why General Education courses within the U.S. should be abolished, many in favour of such a system argue that specific preparatory classes are a necessity to international students, especially those whose primary language is not english. “By giving them the option to choose not to take these foundation classes, they may doom themselves in the future with more ‘important’ classes,” says Bailey Carson, a junior at UC in favour of Gen Ed’s for International students. She claims these classes help support the inevitable up and down wave of progress that most inexperienced students entering college for the first time will go through. “Not only do (Gen Ed’s) help you academically, but I believe they prepare you in other aspects like responsibility as well.” says Bailey. 

Photo credits: www.natcom.org

For freshmen with undecided majors, General Education may be a life saver, allowing students to receive credit for being in college even when unsure of future career choices. The courses can also act as a tester, giving students the opportunity to attend different fields of subjects and later deciding where they fit or where their interests lie. But there is a fine line between the overall benefits and disadvantages of General Education, where some believe it is a necessity while others claim it distracts them from other, more important tasks in their college lives. “Exams are coming up in merely a few weeks,” says Chanel Williams, a Public Health major at UC, “and instead of only having to worry about my major subjects I have to also keep in mind that Gen Ed’s will effect my overall GPA.” Chanel works in the campus cafeteria 3 hours a day, participates in the tennis team as the number 2 ranked player at UC, and has to pay her student loan off during college as well as keep her GPA above a 2.0 to continue receiving support from her sports scholarship and various loans she is currently taking out. 

Depending on the current financial, geographic, and cultural positions of students and their families, the requirement to take General Education courses could either make or break their upcoming GPAs after the fast approaching finals. With exams around the corner, some students are questioning the need for these courses now more than ever. The question is: should this system continue?