Infall of 2015, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, atotal of 17.0 million students were enrolled in undergraduate degree-grantingpostsecondary institutions.
Most if not all of these students were filled with enthusiasmbecause they were embarking on a journey that would grant them a degree in thecareer that they had their hearts set on; then, they find out that the schoolrequires them to take a bunch of subjects before they start taking the coreclasses necessary for the career that they chose. What’s going on? Surprise!Welcome to the world of general education. As a man of science, naturally, Iendeavor to find an objective way to convince you that a specific education isbetter than a general education, but alas, there is no objective way to look atthis problem. So, the reasonable thing to do is to state why a specificeducation is better than a general education based on the following criteria:cost effectiveness, saves time, material covered is specific, it meets thedemands of the job market and its established role, freedom of choice, and the immediateneed as to why a specialized education is better than a general education inthe twenty first century.
COST EFFECTIVEInthe fall of 2017, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 7.0million students attended 2-year institutions and 13.4 million attended 4-yearinstitutions; it was averaged that in the 2015-2016 academic year, the averageannual price for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board was $16,757 atpublic institution, $43,065 at private nonprofit institutions, and $23,776 atprivate for-profit institution. Charges for tuition and required fees averaged$6,613 at public institutions, $31,411 at private nonprofit institutions, and$14,195 at private for-profit institutions.
In the span of 2-years, a person ata community college would have obtained an associate degree at a cost that isalmost 5 times less had they chosen to go to a 4-year institution. The cost ofa specialized education over a general education also includes the money that a2-year student obtains in the time that a 4-year student is still in college;for example, a student at a community college that graduates with a LicensedPractical Nurse “LPN” degree will make a median salary of $44,090 per year for2 years before a 4-year student even graduates. When you add the 2-years ofsalary $88,180 plus $86,130 in additional tuition that a 4-year student has topay then, the total cost to the 4-year student is $174,310 and this does notinclude the first 2-years of $86,130 of tuition that a 4-year student had topay. The cost of taking 2-years of general education adds up with time.SAVES TIMETimeis relative according to Albert Einstein; however, when you know what you wantto do and be, career-wise, then it can be an eternity if you are forced to takegeneral education classes. Time should not be wasted when you know exactly whatyou want to do in life.
You should chart your career goals and achieve them inthe most expedient manner. Specialized education is that straight path; itoffers practical training that is focused on students that have a clear imageof the career path that they wish to take. Most students that leave high-schoolknow exactly what they want to do because the time spent in high-school was tonot only learn general education classes, but also to learn in that span oftime, what you wanted to do career-wise. For the remainder of the students thatdo not have a clue as to what they wish to do career-wise, then generaleducation is for them because at this point in their life, they do not mindtaking extra time to decide what it is that they wish to do career-wise.
Theadded time should benefit them because it will increase their knowledge baseand hopefully help them to decide what career path to choose. MATERIAL COVERED IS SPECIFICForall others, general education is a waste of time because in most cases it hasabsolutely nothing to do with their career path. For example, no one forces Englishmajors to taken fluid mechanics and differential equation because it has absolutelynothing to do with the career that they have chosen. So, why force engineeringstudents to take a year of English, a year of foreign languages, or philosophy,when they have absolutely nothing to do with their job goals. The simple truthis that colleges are trying to make money and the longer they keep youenrolled, the more money they can milk-out of you. Also, do not buy thatpoppy-cock that studying general education makes you think analytically; theone true science which is mathematics, if developed properly, will help everystudent think critically, analytically and scientifically.
If a students wereto focus on a specialized education, then they would be required to focus ononly classes that are directly related to the skills and knowledge set of theircareer field. After they graduate, they would have all of the practical and theoreticallyskills from the specialized education to make them ready for the career oftheir choice. Unlike the specialized education students, the general educationstudents will have to search for jobs that meet their skill-set because theymay not have the specific skills or classes to enter into a well-defined job,unlike their specialized counterparts that have the tools for a competitive jobmarket.Frommathematics we can obtain many truths, unlike philosophy which has only onetruth, “I think therefore I am.
” Everything else rationalized in philosophy isdue to mathematics.IT MEETS THE DEMANDS OF THE JOBMARKETInorder to meet the competitive needs of the job market, three separate entities,the Michigan community colleges, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. andemployers of Detroit Michigan have joined forces in this competitive job marketto craft an innovative new model to provide job training that will not onlycreate jobs and growth, but also will provide a trained workforce for free tohelp existing employers as well as those that the state is trying to recruit.According to Sarah Hubbard, vice president of government relations at theDetroit Regional Chamber,” it’s a creative approach amid difficult economictimes.” Difficult times have been a precursor to change for years, but nevermore so at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC).
Like manycommunity and technical colleges, MCTC has had a civic and workforce goals thatseamlessly coexist within its vision and mission statement. For example, thecollege’s vision is “to be an institution that transforms the community byeducating students who are globally aware, engaged citizens, skillful at theirwork and lifelong learners.” Its mission is to “make individual dreamsachievable by providing access to learning opportunities that prepare studentsto live and work in a democratic society within a global community” through a varietyof vehicles, including liberal education, technical education, and workforcedevelopment.
Democracyhas been the birth right of every US citizen since the drafting and signing ofthe constitution; Wilson was one of only six men to sign the Declaration ofIndependence and the U.S. Constitution (Adams 1922, 134). Wilson was alsoappointed to the U.S.
Supreme court by Washington (Read 2000, 93); he has aunique perspective and he argued against a bill of rights because he believedthat people would view it as the ultimate political authority and the source oftheir rights. Wilson wanted each successive generation to define for itself thenature and extent of individual rights. To that point, it can be argued that wethe people have the right to choose what we wish to study in relation toclasses that are specific to the career that is chosen. No one should be forcedto take general education classes that for the most part has absolutely nothingto do with the career that they have chosen. Only the people and those directlyinvolved with a particular field should define what needs to be study for theultimate benefit and growth of that career. This statement falls in line withWilson’s belief that each generation should define rights overtime, therebyeffectively retaining authority, one of the most fundamental matters ofgovernment that should never be ceded to any authority.In 2017, we have seenthe U.S.
struck with many natural disasters and it fall’s to every citizen ofthis nation to do their part however little. We the people have it within ourpower to craft programs that are specific to the needs of those affected byhurricanes, flooding and fire; by tailoring college classes that teach students,specifically what they need to know to help. We cannot, no, we should not wait4-years with general education classes to help our fellow man. The role of collegeshas been to educate and prepare people to meet the needs of society. Colleges haveto become like Architecture that embodies all of humanity. It has to be imbuedwith the spirit of humanity so that it not only reflects our strengths, anddreams, but also our desires to evolve beyond what we are today.
This desire ismanifested in a specific education
