USC needs to develop a core curriculum
As students finalize their class schedules for the rest of the semester, one issue nearly every new student faces selecting their general education courses.
Unfortunately, USC’s general education system and its current requirements structurally discourage intellectual exploration and do not provide students with a balanced education. Under the current program, the allotment of registration times drastically limits the options students have when selecting GE courses. In addition, USC’s GE requirements allow students to create class schedules that they believe to be easy at the expense of attaining skills vital to success during and after college.
To remedy this, USC needs to develop a new core curriculum. This revamped curriculum would require that students take one GE class selected by the University each semester until graduation. The new structure would end the race to register for GE courses that takes place every year and also require that students take eight pre-selected courses designed to ensure that all students are provided with the academic basis needed not only to function in our complex world but to also be active and informed participants in it.
One of the first issues students encounter with the structure of USC’s current GE program is that registering for the necessary classes is a virtual free-for-all in which only those who register first survive. Registration times are based on units earned, which inherently favors upperclassmen.
As a result, a lot of the University’s most interesting and engaging GE courses are closed for registration by the time underclassmen begin registering. This is especially troubling because general education requirements are meant to provide students with opportunities to explore new interests early on during their time at USC. If someone realizes that diplomacy is their life’s calling after a GE class on international relations, the realization will be of little use if they are two weeks from graduating instead of two weeks from declaring a major.
However, the issue is not only appicable to new students — even upperclassmen have difficulty registering for classes. What is perhaps even more worrisome is that upperclassmen face this issue when graduation is just on the horizon and every course could be the difference between graduation and additional semesters.
Another notable issue with the GE system as it is currently offered is that it incentivizes students to prioritize an easy A over studying a subject they actually care about. Because the current GE program offers students myriad choices, many simply opt to take the easiest class that fits their schedule. Why take a difficult class on climate change when every review of Life in the Universe says there’s almost no work required, and nearly every student that takes the class gets an A?
Evidently, something is wrong. USC’s GE system forces many into classes they do not truly want to take and oftentimes does not allow the intellectual exploration the University claims to offer its students. Fortunately, it can be fixed with a new core curriculum.
Rather than having 10 to 12 complex and pretentiously named categories from which students select classes, USC needs to implement a new GE program in which every student takes eight uniform courses, known as a core curriculum.
A core curriculum would also disincentivize students from avoiding courses they are interested in for an easy A. Bad professors will always exist, unfortunately, but with a core curriculum, students can’t switch into an obscure class on botany in film.
The curriculum could also be standardized so that all incoming students discuss the same subjects and analyze the same readings. Every student taking first-semester literature would read and analyze the same texts at the same time.
The result would be not only more broadly educated students but also a deeper sense of community among underclassmen as they tackle similar problems and questions together. The practice is not revolutionary and has been successfully utilized by universities like Columbia for quite some time.
A stronger core curriculum is integral to preparing USC undergraduates for life after college. Many believe the segment of their four-year degree that makes them the most employable is their major. But increasingly, employers say that they already expect to train employees in specialized skills associated with their jobs.
Only four years ago, USC revamped its GE requirements. It is about time the University consider doing it again.