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Misplaced priorities and chutzpah
Northwestern University did not fare well in the WhatWillTheyLearn.com ratings of core curricula. Of the seven core requirements that we looked at, Northwestern managed to get credit in only one. But Northwestern is not addressing its core curriculum at the moment. Rather, it is attending to its U.S. News & World Report status with a special fund drive to increase alumni giving and thereby raise its ranking.
ACTA has a different suggestion: Focus on what matters for your undergraduates and ensure for them a thorough general education. Across the nation, schools with lower budgets and much, much lower tuition than Northwestern have implemented strong core requirements. These include Lamar University in Texas, Tennessee State University, CUNY Brooklyn College, the University of Dallas, and others. The complexion of educational excellence is not always green. It takes faculty and administrators who are willing to answer the question "What does it mean to be college educated?" with meaningful core requirements.
Posted by Michael Poliakoff on September 17, 2010 at September 17, 2010 09:35 AM
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