An interesting article

[Chebasaz]

FOXNews.com - Dumb and Dumber? What Are College Kids Learning About Our Country?

I don't think this is news to anyone here, but I'm glad to see it in print.

Edit: I suppose I need to clarify what direction I"m looking to take this discussion. It's always depressed me that a large majority of students couldn't point out the states on a map, or knew where Iraq was. Even after graduating college! There are many classes taken during college that are quickly forgotten and were of limited practical use in the first place.

So I guess my questions are -

What exactly are students today learning in traditional colleges?
How many of those electives are necessary, and how many actually teach something of value?
What kind of education are traditional students really getting? What's the actual value?

I know this is an old argument, but I still rail against the 120 credit requirement for most degrees. Hard sciences and mathematics do need to be tempered with Humanities, but I think you could carve 30 credits off of the requirement and still have a well-rounded student. Heck, make a foreign language a requirement instead of those 30 credits. Open people's eyes and minds up to other cultures. I think they'll be much more well-rounded doing that than taking - Starcraft for College Students.

If you absolutely have to have 120 credits, use those credits to reinforce the core classes for your degree. Maybe then we'll get people (with the power to vote!!!) who know what the Declaration of Independence is... and why it was so important.

Anyway, getting off my soapbox now.

Cheers,