“How are 14th-century Central European bible verses going to help me get my CPA?”
This clever quip came from my roommate two years ago after taking a midterm for the class “Medieval Religion and Culture.” This course was classified under the “Historical Perspectives” general education requirement and was one of several options students could take to fulfill that slot. It was just one of many courses accounting and finance double major Brett Levenhagen had to take that had nothing to do with his majors, yet it brought him closer to receiving his degree.
Levenhagen contends that it was his hardest class to date and that the material was uninteresting and inapplicable to his other courses at the time. Like many Hawkeye students, he felt that general education requirements are out of place and should be reevaluated to better fit specific majors’ schedules. I couldn’t agree more.
General education classes, better known as “gen eds,” are required courses all undergraduate students at the University of Iowa must take in order to graduate. These requirements differ slightly by individual college, but most students must take courses in the following subjects: diversity and inclusion, international and global issues, natural sciences with a lab, rhetoric, values and cultures, and interpretation of literature.
While the typical argument for gen ed courses is often that they enhance communication skills and make students more well-rounded, in reality, they frequently harm students’ academic experiences.
They also hinder students by offering classes that are too broad in nature, adding to the already significant cost of university tuition.
This sentiment is echoed by Devin Vorthmann, a business student who feels the UI pushes general education classes as a way to generate more money from students.
“They’re just a way for universities to make more money,” Vorthmann said.
Many students also feel their gen ed classes are a waste of time, claiming these courses are irrelevant. As a result, students “check out” and later receive poor grades.
“I wish I could see how gen eds apply to the real world and my future career, but I just can’t,” UI fourth-year accounting major Ethan Dabareiner said.
Dabareiner also feels his GPA has suffered from taking uninteresting or inapplicable classes due to general education requirements.
On the flip side, some students believe gen ed classes are an opportunity to expand their knowledge on new and exciting subjects they might not engage with regularly.
“I think general education classes are important for both our education and the betterment of society. I came to college to learn, and those who disagree with the opinion that gen eds are important are misinformed and unable to hold their own at our prestigious university,” UI senior Nick Paulus said.
To create a compromise and enact tangible changes, the UI should reevaluate its gen ed system and develop courses tailored specifically to individual majors. By doing this, the university would not only improve the educational standards of each college but also engage students with material they want to learn, rather than pushing them to study subjects they are merely “required” to take.