Students & Parents | General Education

Survey: Colleges Failing To Require Core Requirements

ON CAMPUS, WGBH   |  November 14, 2017 by Kirk Carapezza

A new report released Tuesday criticizes New England colleges for being lax on core requirements like history and foreign languages.

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s latest survey calls out Northeastern colleges for not requiring all students to take a broad range of courses.

The Council surveyed more than three hundred schools in the region and found only 13 percent require foreign language courses at the intermediate level. Only 6 percent require a course in U.S. government or history. That’s compared to the national average of 18 percent.

“The Northeast region has long been viewed as a bastion of excellence in American higher education and home to many of this country’s most highly regarded institutions,” said ACTA President Michael Poliakoff. “However, what we have found is that a majority of these colleges and universities are failing, at the most fundamental level, to provide an education geared toward long-term career success and informed citizenship.”

Overall, five Northeastern colleges earned an “A” by requiring enough core subjects. Three are military academies and the other two are Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in New Hampshire and St. John’s College in Maryland.

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Lexington and Concord: Courage That Forged a Nation

On the morning of April 19, 1775, British troops and colonial minutemen fired on each other at the battles of Lexington and Concord. Referred to eloquently in Emerson’s poem, “Concord Hymn,” as “the shot heard round the world,” this event officially started the American Revolutionary War and paved the way for independence. The minutemen in Massachusetts fought and died for liberty and self-governance, principles on which this country was founded. Sadly, many Americans, even those with a college education, are ignorant of their nation’s history and founding principles. This is not only disappointing but dangerous to national solidarity. It must be rectified to ensure the continued stability and success of the United States.
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