For the many financial and structural ailments of American
higher education, many diagnoses and prescriptions have been offered. My own conviction is that there is a dire need for more thought and policy concentrated on the role of pre-college, preparatory
work, which sets the stage for the financial and resource problems in our
headlines.
First, a brief disclaimer: I am very strong proponent of
true liberal arts. As a former
student in diverse school systems in several countries on three continents, I am strongly convinced
that America's emphasis on interdisciplinary cross-fertilization is a
special feature that should be kept intact and even expanded. However, this successful American ideal
has, for many students, become reduced to remedial high / middle school material.
To add financial insult to intellectual injury, this is taking place in the
expensive college classroom, taught by the far more expensive college
instructor, and quite often in a stadium-like environment. Many schools are
discovering that it is far too expensive to conduct remedial coursework in the
traditional classroom environment; hence, vast structural changes are forced upon
us.
Central to many of the financial challenges that we now see in
American higher education is the “prep problem” which delivers students to our
campuses for remedial high school coursework. It astounds me that some consider
introductory Algebra, History, or English etc, taken in college, to constitute
a liberal arts education. Hardly. A course in the historical and cultural
development of algebra… that is a better example of the inspiring, synthetic material that an
in-person college education should deliver.
Because of the prep problem, a “two-lane” structure is clearly emerging in American higher education. In the fast lane are students who arrive
with the benefits of more diligent preparation. These students typically arrive with substantial advanced
placement credit and can bypass the large introductory courses. These fast-lane students quickly complete
core material and have enough time to pursue double or even triple majors.
(When I double-majored in physics and German literature and philosophy,
it was rather exotic, but this is no longer the case) The fast-lane students
reach smaller classes quite early in their college careers and thus benefit the
most from direct faculty interaction. Because of this, the fast-lane students
will have the ability to pursue true liberal arts material and benefit from all
of what college can offer. They
will also receive the most substantial boost upon graduation, because they will
have distinguishing advanced coursework and are more likely to have
recommendation letters filled with prose about their unique contributions. It is no surprise that these students typically
find better placement after college.
Meanwhile, underprepared students languish in the slow lane... expending considerable time and investment on remedial
material, thereby increasing costs to college as well as the student. Unfortunately, the
introductory curriculum designed to serve these students is often a tedious
insult to the world-class faculty called upon to teach it. Naturally, there is
much dispute among the faculty regarding who will be “stuck” with these courses. In other words, there is not a
tremendous amount of enthusiasm associated with them- not on the student side,
nor the faculty side. Hence the underprepared students are those most likely to
experience "stadium courses"- and now perhaps online curriculum. Underprepared students will typically spend the
full four years completing a basic degree with no additional distinguishing
features such as research or study abroad.
On the whole, underprepared students receive a college education that is
ultimately worth far less than that of their fast-lane peers. I hope that more
immediate attention will be given to the prep problem and the wide divergence
in outcomes that it has brought to the American campus. Many of America's students lack the preparation that would enable them to get the most out of a college education.
