Completely agree, flu. Being “well-rounded” thru being exposed to “Shakespeare” and “Greek Mythology” (at a cost of abt $3500+ for 6-8 units) does nothing to make one employable. Absolutely nothing.
Taxpayer funds should not be used in this day and age to make students “well-rounded,” either in public university operations or in issuing gov’t backed student loans. Students who want that kind of curriculum can go to private universities and pay the entire (non-subsidized) tuition/fee load from their families’ deep pockets, IMHO.
There are way too many “well-rounded” young people out there now who have no work skills or work experience.
An exception would be a student majoring in English and Literature with a HS teaching credential.[/quote]
A lot of English majors go on to law school. The ability to read, comprehend, interpret, and write about various written texts is critical when pursuing a career in law, as you know.
They can also become technical writers, journalists, editors, authors, script writers, etc.
Ultimately, it does benefit society to have a well-rounded population. It gives us the flexibility, ingenuity, and creativity to maintain a healthy society and economy.[/quote]
Working for a public agency, the vast majority of public attorneys I worked with had an undergraduate major in Political Science or History. I know of a couple of attys in the private sector who majored in accounting and finance.
CSU already has a journalism major, “Film and New Media Production” in which the student gets an apprenticeship (at a TV/film studio, if poss) in their senior year. This is a viable occupational track . . . however, the competition for the program on (all half dozen or so) campuses offering it (and jobs sweeping floors for the local news stn) is fierce.
Anyone can be an author. However, actually getting published is another matter entirely. Biz education/experience might help with this.
Having a “humanities” or literature degree standing on its own does not make a person employable in this day and age. Yes, lawyers need to know how to write and convey their ideas concisely but CA is w-a-a-ay too overlawyered. The majority of bar candidates who passed the CA bar within the last decade cannot land a gig as a lawyer in this state and their (often huge) student loan debt has come due and has been deferred. These newly-minted lawyers have to (re)take the bar exam in another state in which they may have contacts and believe they are more likely to find work.
This is due to the majority of CA private attorneys working in their firms until well past retirement age. Us boomers approaching the age to collect SS should be glad of this. I have known several of these (sr citizen) attorneys to die on the job without ever collecting a penny of SS :=[
