General education courses are courses outside of your field of study that were introduced to enhance learning and facilitate development. However, their introduction has had only a negative effect by wasting precious time and money. 

At NC State, you must take at least 39 credit hours of these classes. This number can change based on your major. 

Educators at NC State and universities across the country believe these classes help introduce students to topics that may feel appealing and that students may want to explore further. The NC State website says these classes expand knowledge that may become necessary in your future field and help shape your creative thinking that is “fundamental to improving the human condition.” However, both of these reasons can be rebutted. 

First of all, many people have a natural calling, and their personality and behaviors cause them to go into certain fields of study. This negates the idea that general education classes play an important role in career selection.

In psychology, there is a theory that personalities can be broken down into five big personality traits. These traits include extraversion, agreeableness, openness, conscientiousness and neuroticism. In one study, psychologists linked these personality traits to several different roles that could play a part in your career choices.

A good example of a person whose personality made his future role in the workforce easy to determine is my own father. My father would be considered an agreeable personality type. He is a sympathetic and caring man who finds happiness in helping other people. These characteristics cause him to be suited for a “guide role,” making him intrinsically suited to a potential career as a doctor.

I understand that these classes can be a way to make job choices. But instead of forcing you to take a bunch of random classes, universities should help you make that decision easier earlier on. I would recommend entrance exams into majors that you want to get into. These exams would make you do genuine research into your field and understand if your personality type is fitted into your future career. I would recommend that this sort of exam take place after the first year, so potential prerequisite classes could be taken by students.

I know this idea might come across as unpopular to students. Who wants to take a nerve-wracking exam that could have a major effect on your future? However, this is a better option than the alternative — wasting your money on classes you may never need.

As of 2023, the average cost of in-state tuition in the U.S. is $9,377, while out-of-state tuition averages $27,279. This does not include cost of living and textbooks.

The number of general education classes vary between universities, but the minimum hours is usually at least 30. If the United States should set a maximum amount of general education programs it has and create a European-like model that would reduce the undergraduate program to three years, we could save a significant amount of money.

 The argument that these classes help shape our beliefs is also foolish. I would argue that many classes don’t actually change our viewpoint on the world or benefit us immensely. There are some classes that attempt to shape our understanding like classes on social issues and philosophy courses, but they make up just a few of our general education classes.

In most of these classes, a lot of students are not actually learning — just memorizing. We understand that these topics will not be useful in our future, so we get by the best we can.

If our school system wanted to actually teach us things that are useful for our general education classes, I would recommend topics like financial literacy or economic study — these subjects will always be useful. 

Additionally, NC State should change some of these classes into internship experience. In my degree program, there is currently only one class devoted to internships. If I am required to attend college for four years, I would hope that at least one semester be dedicated to internships so my transition into work will be facilitated much easier. 

I am not arguing that these classes be eliminated, but a revision is needed. These classes should be trimmed to the most important things for living. Experience alone will make us respectable members of the working class, and experience can not be simulated through these classes.