Fewer students major in humanities nationally and in NC [View all]

by John Hood, John Locke Foundation board member


RALEIGH — Most students attend colleges or universities primarily to acquire the knowledge, skills, and credentials required to get a rewarding job.

That’s what most college students say in surveys. That’s what most parents think they are helping to finance. You can also divine student intentions by looking at how they choose to spend most of their academic time while on campus.

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Some argue that many students are entering those vocation-specific majors reluctantly, having taken on substantial debt to finance the ever-escalating price tag for the four or more years it takes to get an undergraduate degree. If relieved of the financial burden — either by federal debt forgiveness or higher state subsidy or both — they’d welcome the opportunity to major in literature, classics, history, or philosophy for their intrinsic value rather than having to prioritize the prospect for success in the job market.

Others argue that whatever the merits and appeal of the humanities may be in theory, current academic practice is a major turnoff. Too many professors prefer to teach courses based on their own narrow, often idiosyncratic research interests rather than teaching about the great ideas, institutions, people, and works of art that students actually want to study. And because so much of the content is drenched in grievance, identity politics, and radical leftism, many potential majors are either bored or actively repelled by it.

Personally, I’d love to see more students majoring in the humanities. If policymakers agree, there are two steps they can take. First, reduce the actual cost of getting a degree (which is not the same as increasing the subsidy). Second, depoliticize the subject matter.

Both are, sadly, easier said than done.

Read more: https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/opinion/2021/07/27/humanities-face-strong-decrease-numbers-colleges-universities/5384165001/
(Wilmington Star News)