Nonmajor courses should be graded pass/fail: Should nonmajor couses be graded pass/fail? I think they should.

If we were to put more focus on courses that have a direct effect on a student's chosen course of study, and justifiably, a student's career, we would have a more powerful workforce. As it is now, we have a major problem with students graduating and turning out to be unhirable. In the economy, there are less and less jobs. As employers look at the candidates, I would imagine that they are looking for fresh meat that have the most experience in the job field for which they are applying. Why would a potential employer pick a candidate with broad ranging experience over an expert in the field. I believe that it is a liberal (politically speaking) ideal that the more rounded a person is, the more fully enlightened they are. I agree with this standpoint, but this philosophy needs its limits. We must know what the end goal of a college student is. If we want people to attend college just for the basic experience, that's great. If we want students to attend college in an effort to receive career training, then this is a waste. Therefore, we must draw a happy medium between the two extremes; (a) students should only study what they are looking to make a career out of, and (b) students need varied courses in order to develop to their full academic potential. I believe for this reason, we should require the extra liberal arts courses, but they should be graded on a pass fail basis. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Claim: Nonmajor courses should be graded pass/fail. Pro: This would allow for more focus on a student's future career Students would have a less stressful learning environment The student would be able to figure out if they would like their chosen career path earlier; saving money and time.

Con: This would limit the student's exposure to other areas of academia. The most important reason for attending college is to push your limits and expose you to new things: this would be limited by the approach I'm suggesting.