The other issue in higher education is that the liberal arts curriculum is dead. I managed two music degrees at a Virginia university without ever taking a foreign language, philosophy, logic, or a good natural science course. Instead, I had to take a bogus course in Sociology (a bogus subject in the first place) and my only foray into maths at university was called MATH 106: Concepts of Math. We studied percentages and voting and other issues appropriate to a seventh-grade curriculum.
I knew at the time that this was not a classical education and doubled up on my literature coursework and seminars to compensate, but most of my confreres did not. Granted, we were all spending the majority of our days in rehearsals and in the practice rooms (some actually practicing), but most of the other music students looked at "gen ed" requirements as something to get out of the way as quickly as possible. No one cared if we learned anything, and none of our advisors seemed to care if we did or not.
The bottom line is that every university student should be taught a core set of liberal arts courses, and, if my experience is indicative, few are.
I will stop, as I feel an E.D. Hirsh rant coming on.
I completely agree with you, Bryan, and my experience of math was similar to yours. I was afraid I'd have to take calculus, but I got into "The Nature of Mathematics" which required me to study card-game probability, among other things.
The liberal arts *were* higher education until very recently. Now they're seen as extraneous fluff. How did university administrators allow this to happen? Money seems to be the only answer.
Ditto from the other side of the degree fence - mine was in accounting, so I got plenty of math. My "classical" liberal arts including such wonders as a sophomoronic philosphy class which the '60s bred and raised prof would ask such profound questions like "is war bad" to which most would answer "I don't know, I kind of like that song." And he would reply, "ok that's a B+. Back to your lives citizens." A truly colossal waste of time.
On the other hand, I enjoy the opportunity of exploring philosophers (particularly religious)now on my own without any preconceived garbage handed on to me by some liberal prof. Its far too important stuff to leave in the hands of academics.
Amen, brother.
I think the college experience is what you make it out to be. The institution can't force you to give a darn about what it is you're studying. You get what you put in, and for a lot of people I agree that they put in very little.
I personally felt a bit cheated studying only the sciences. Having finished up a bachelor's degree after 3 1/2 years, I decided to add on an English degree in an effort to "round out" my education. Best decision I ever made, but as it stood, I definitely realized that I hadn't achieved all that I had hoped for with a B.S. in neurosci.
So I agree that the system isn't perfect.
Fr. James Schall, a professor at Georgetown (and that rarest of treasures: an orthodox Jesuit), has an excellent essay on education called A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning.
I wish I had read it, or something like it, around the time I entered college.