Call them ‘gen. eds.,’ core curriculum, liberal arts requirements. Whatever the name, most colleges require students to take a range of basic courses in the humanities, arts, social sciences, math and natural sciences. Although these courses tend not to be directly related to many majors, administrators believe the requirements benefit students in the long run, and surprisingly, many students do too.

At the [1] United States Military Academy at West Point, all graduates receive a Bachelor of Science as an Army Officer. Although majors in engineering, math and science or humanities and social sciences are available, all cadets must take the same core classes, which according to the Academy’s website, provide “an essential base of knowledge necessary for all career Army leaders.”

Cadet Private Rob Bucknam explains how general education requirements give students the skills to expand beyond the classroom.

“West Point is all about the military,” Bucknam says. “However, West Point also wants its graduates to become distinguished members of society, both in and out of the Army. The purpose of the general education program is really to ensure that graduates are well-rounded academically. It allows them to better relate to others and interact better and more properly in society.”

Many of West Point’s core classes are similar to those of other colleges: English, history, foreign language, social sciences, math, chemistry and physics. However, Bucknam is required to take other courses that are particular only to the Academy: military science, physical education, law, leadership and information technology.

“Some of our gen. eds. — particularly the physical education classes — teach skills that a soldier must know,” Buckman says. “Boxing, survival swimming, and combatives are all essential skills that an officer in today’s Army must possess.”

Okay, so general education courses seem to have a place in the military. But what about standard four-year colleges?

At the [2] University of Notre Dame, freshman students are admitted into the [3] First Year of Studies program, and don’t begin taking courses for their major until sophomore year. In their first year, all students take the same classes: a university seminar, first year composition, mathematics, natural sciences, and physical education. Additionally, sometime during their four years at Notre Dame, students must take courses in history, social science, philosophy, theology and fine arts or literature.

More than halfway through the First Year of Studies program, freshman Jackie Spengler reflects on her initial attitudes about required courses.

“At first when I found out that I had all these requirements I had to take, I was honestly really mad about it. Science and theology are just not my thing.”

However, after Spengler took a required theology class last semester, her opinion of the program changed.

“It ended up being my favorite class and the best one I’ve ever taken in school before. I thought going into it I would just read the Bible and memorize it, but it blew me away because [my professor] applied Christianity to our lives. So now I take it back and I’m glad I have to take these classes because I never would have taken theology if I didn’t have to.”

Spengler, who plans to major in business, admits she doesn’t think the First Year of Studies classes will help her with her future career, but she finds a value in them nonetheless.

“I don’t think that the classes will help me in my field, but I think that in terms of my spiritual life and just emotional stuff, definitely.”

At Buffalo State College, all students have general education requirements. Much like West Point and Notre Dame, students are required to take classes in English, math, history, and the social sciences.

Jessica Zimmerman, a freshman communications major at [4] Buffalo State College, explains her frustrations about the general education program.

“I learned all this stuff in high school,” she says. “It’s all a repeat. Gen. eds. are a waste.”

Although Zimmerman dislikes her required courses thus far, she recognizes that she could have waived out of them by taking Advanced Placement classes in high school.

Unlike most universities, the Roy H. Park School of Communications at [5] Ithaca College has no specific general education requirements. Communications students must take a certain number of liberal arts credits outside of the school. However, students can fulfill this requirement in any liberal arts department they wish. In addition, journalism students are required to complete a minor outside of the Park school.

Caryn Littler, freshman journalism major at Ithaca College, talks about the effects of the Park school’s loose general education requirements.

“Personally, I like it. But it’s probably not going to be good for me because I won’t have a wide variety of background information that I might need for my job,” Littler says. “In my job, hopefully as a news producer, I’ll probably need to know about a wide variety of things—economics, politics—and while I got some of that in high school, I might not remember it ten years down the line.”

The administration of the Park school seems to be thinking like its students. Starting next fall, all incoming freshmen will have general education requirements.

Chair of the Park School Curriculum Committee, Dr. Raymond Gozzi, Jr., elaborates on the upcoming changes.

“We’re still working out what the requirements will be,” he says. “We want to set up a school-wide program where every student must complete courses in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts.”

Gozzi says students will most likely have to take four to six required courses.

“We certainly have fewer requirements than other schools, so if [students] don’t like them, it should still be okay,” he says.

With most universities requiring some sort of core curriculum, and those schools that currently do not considering it for the future, it looks like ‘gen. eds.’ are here to stay. Although these general education requirements may occupy a good portion of a student’s schedule, it is rare that such classes will influence a student’s decision to attend a particular school.

“Honestly all the schools I applied to had ‘gen. eds.’, so it didn’t go into my decision about where to go to school,” Spengler says. “When I got into Notre Dame, the school’s reputation influenced my decision more than its ‘gen. ed.’ requirements.”