The idea of “college for all” is a grand notion that makes a good soundbite but is neither practical nor desirable. Not every person desires a college degree nor is capable of earning one, and filling college campuses (especially satellite sites and online programs) with marginal students has had negative impacts on the overall quality of education in this country. Ever since that dirty word “retention” became a clarion cry across our institutions, our schools have consistently been moving towards weakening curricula, simplifying degree programs, easing credit-transfer requirements, and thus devaluing the attainment of a degree.
Those issues being the case, it is still valuable for every person to take a few courses at the college level (and this is a new focus that community colleges can consider). The concurrent lowering of education standards at the secondary levels makes it even more important that every person complete some sort of post-secondary coursework – preferably offered pass/fail and at a reasonable cost – that provides our citizenry with the basic skills of critical thinking, clear reasoning, effective communication, basic understanding of civics, and a general college-level survey of history and literature.
Course #1: Basic Philosophy and Logic
Course #2: Basic Composition
Course #3: Effective Oral Communication
Course #4: US Constitution & American Government
Course #5: General Survey of American History
Course #6: General Survey of American Literature
Course #7: Basic Algebra or Statistics
Course #8: Basic Finance
Two twelve-hour semesters, each sixteen weeks long, would instill in people the most fundamental capabilities of being literate citizens capable of independent thought, articulate communication, an understanding of America’s past and how it developed its present, and an appreciation for reading great literary works. Those may be lofty goals, but being offered pass/fail, the courses could be rigorous, demanding, and worthwhile, thereby achieving what many college courses these days do not because of degree timelines, and grade pressures: quality outcomes.