Higher education has long had deep ties to politics, and core education with it. Indeed, the idea of core education was born of the first World War, and popularized after the second. The idea, then and now, is that students in a plural, democratic society must be shaped, given the proper grounding and structure to understand the democratic ideals upon which their society is founded. Recently, however, have taken an incredible interest in shaping and reshaping these curriculums, making sure that the ideals which are being taught line up with their own viewpoints on the world, as it is and as they believe it should be. This creates knock-on effects for colleges, and for the students who attend them. In this article, we鈥檙e going to examine how these changes have been implemented and played out, and whether these should impact your choice of where to apply to college.听
Why Are College Curriculums Political?
The glib answer is that everything is political, but increasingly higher education has become a politicized issue in the United States. This is both on a macro level, a growing general distrust of the nebulous concept of 鈥渁cademia鈥� and on a more granular level as it is expressed here, with an increased scrutiny on the various subjects students are being taught.
This is nothing new; the basis of core curricula popularized after World War II was , a book published by Harvard laying out their goals for a core curriculum. This book then provided the basis for the core curricula adopted by most public college systems in the US, one focused on classical thought, history, and the democratic ideals in various forms.
The shift began in the 1960s, a decade of protest and introspection, often driven by college students. Core curriculums remained in place, but became far more flexible, offering students more choices and less standardization. These also often expanded their scope. While history was still a core component of these courses, you didn鈥檛 necessarily have to take American history any longer, and other schools of thought became more accessible.
Parts of core have remained consistent; math and science have been updated with new discoveries of course, but these requirements haven鈥檛 changed, and are relatively uncontroversial. It鈥檚 the social sciences and humanities where the major shifts happened, and where the political lines are currently being drawn in the sand.
While these debates are happening at multiple colleges, the biggest changes are all coming from public universities. These are overseen by the states they are based in. States have generally been hands-off in the past, trusting the experts to set the curriculums and standards, but are increasingly becoming involved, especially when it comes to questions of curriculums and course requirements. As this is done at the state level, there are major differences in how this is playing out across the country.
How Are States Changing College Core Curricula?
Not every state has decided to wade into the weeds of core curriculums, but there has been a trend recently in state legislatures of taking a more hands-on approach. Since things vary so much by state, we鈥檙e going to go through some which have seen large and small shifts, and explore how this impacts students in them.
North and South Carolina
As detailed by , South Carolina was an early mover in this space, with the signed into law in 2021. This required all bachelor鈥檚 degree seekers to take a comprehensive course in American history or government. It also specifically required reading multiple foundational documents. This is a single course requirement, and is reasonable in scope; it is generally a good thing if students understand the government of the country they live in.
North Carolina had a similar bill proposed, but instead reached an agreement with UNC trustees; this again required a course in American history, but didn鈥檛 mandate the reading of specific foundational documents. This level of flexibility is preferred by colleges.
Florida
Florida has pursued far more sweeping changes, with specific mandates for what texts can and should be taught, and the point of view. This comes on top of specific courses being added or removed, such as the removal of all . These changes are made with specific political purpose, and Florida has been quite clear about this.
This is a major change, both to what courses are offered, and to what is taught in those courses. The explicit goal of the legislation is to teach a more positive portrayal of American history, and ensure certain topics involving race and gender are not discussed. This has had major impacts; the number of courses offered as part of the core at the University of Florida dropped from around 1,200 to approximately 300, a staggering reduction.
Texas
Texas already required both American history and government courses in its general education requirements, but the state government has acted to take tighter control of curricula regardless. They are less prescriptive about what must be done, instead mandating that core curriculum requirements must be reviewed every five years, under a set of ill-defined criteria.
The major changes are then being pushed by college boards within Texas, acting pre-emptively in most cases to align with what they think the legislature wants. This has been most notable at and , with major cuts and revisions to courses involving race and gender. The UT system has not experienced these changes yet, but it would not be surprising if they did occur in the future.
Iowa and Utah
These states are acting independently, but have achieved a similar result, in that newly created civics centers are the new home of core curriculum courses, specifically all core courses in the humanities and social sciences. These courses are specifically focused on American history and government, with readings and texts drawn from the classical Western canon.
Utah has further stripped away tenure protections for faculty in the civic center; all are hired as two-year at-will positions. Iowa first attempted making their civic center optional, but mandated participation through general ed requirements after low student uptake of the courses.
What Does This Mean for College Applicants?
These policies are not yet overwhelming, and not all states are interfering in college education in this way. That said, since public universities are where many students turn for an education, especially in-state schools, this can have a major impact for students in those states. We鈥檙e going to run through some of the impacts we鈥檝e already seen, and expect to see in the future.
Changing Departments and Major Offerings
College departments are shaped in large part by their popularity. Computer science is increasingly a very large department; Egyptology tends to be a good bit smaller. For many universities, humanities and social science departments are as large as they are due solely to core requirements. If every computer science and business student has to take a suite of history, sociology, and writing-centered courses, then the school needs a reasonable number of professors to teach those courses.
When the core requirements shift, becoming more focused solely on American history, or cutting out the entire field of sociology, the departments will in turn wither. This might not matter to students who only want to study computer science, but if you do want to major in history, or Egyptology, or classics, or any other field which is currently being cut, then you may have a better college experience at a school which isn鈥檛 going to be paring back these departments.
Changing Graduation Requirements
Core courses are called such because you need to take them to graduate. Adding new courses, or changing these requirements, can increase the overall course load you need to take, or curtail which options are available to you. While this generally won鈥檛 delay graduation, if changes are implemented once you鈥檙e already at a school, it can throw all current plans you have out of whack.
While graduation requirements aren鈥檛 the only thing to consider when deciding where to apply, you can and should take them into account, especially if more drastic changes look to be on the horizon. Now that state legislatures have begun taking this direct approach to college curriculums, they may push to see just how much influence they can wield.
Changing University Cultures
It is less certain that university cultures will change as a result of these requirement changes, but that is a major reason for pushing them. While legislation cannot change what students and professors believe, it can influence how they express themselves on campus, and what they are comfortable doing and saying. This is especially true for legislation that removes tenure protections, as these are a bulwark supporting freedom of expression for professors.
Any change will be slow to take effect, but the culture of a school matters, and for public schools that is inevitably shaped in large part by the state they are situated in. As a state鈥檚 culture shifts, it may not be the kind of place you want to attend college anymore.
Does Any of This Matter for You?
This depends entirely on what state you live in, and what your college priorities are. Because this is happening at the state level, and only impacting public universities, then if you don鈥檛 live in one of these states, you can easily ignore it. For students who live in one of these states, the situation is more fraught.
The biggest issue is that of in-state tuition. As the cost of college continues to rise, the best way many students have found to afford it is attending state schools, which are far more affordable for in-state students. This may lead to you feeling stuck, attending a school which is quickly shifting, or getting saddled with high loans attending a private college or a state school in another state.
An option here are interstate compacts, agreements between states where students from one get charged in-state tuition by another. These generally don鈥檛 allow you to attend flagship universities, but can greatly expand the options which are available to and affordable by you.
There are many factors to consider when choosing which college is the right fit, and the culture of a school both in the classroom and on campus generally, is one which students should consider deeply. This is a place where you will be both living and learning for four years, a new home, and you want it to be in a place where you are comfortable and able to express yourself. The political climate on campus likely shouldn鈥檛 be your only concern, but it is something which should be factored into your choice.
Final Thoughts
There has always been a political involvement in academia; many of the nation鈥檚 politicians attend the same small set of schools, and this is true at both national and state levels. From the space race to government funding for research, academia is inextricable from the broader landscape, no matter how aloof they may appear. We hope that this article has helped you contextualize this latest political wrinkle impacting academia, and how the broader effects of it may interact with your own college journey.
The college admissions process is always something of a challenge, especially when things are as uncertain as they are currently. If you are looking for advice on your own college applications, or want to best understand which school鈥檚 culture will best support your needs, then 吃瓜官网 can help. Our mentors are masters of every aspect of the admissions process, and have a deep experience helping students find the best school for them. Schedule a free consultation today to learn more, we鈥檙e always happy to hear from you.
