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Are All College Courses Necessary?
Introduction

When one joins a college, there are major courses that they are supposed to undertake. It

is the major courses that will determine the career of an individual once they are out of college.

Apart from just undertaking the major courses, there are other courses which are known as basic

courses which has to be studied in the process before one can concentrate in their major courses.

There have been discussions whether taking all the courses in college is necessary for students.

There are students who feel that once they have been introduced college then they should not

waste time on basic courses but start learning major courses right away so that they can graduate.

Therefore, the main question is, are all college courses necessary?

Necessity of all college courses

As much as there are students and individuals who feel that they should be introduced to

major courses once they are registered in college, it is important to note that all the courses

offered in college are necessary including the basic courses which one must attend to before

starting the major courses. There are several reasons which make college courses necessary to

students when still undertaking their studies or while out after college. Some of the reasons

which makes all colleges courses necessary are highlighted below.

The first reasons which makes all college courses necessary is for the students to a

foundational education before they can be involved in their major courses. There are differences
among colleges on what is requires from students before they can start their core classes. All

colleges have an established general curriculum requirement which are designed with the aim of

helping students gain basic skills. There are courses major courses that as much as they don’t

show any close connection with other courses, they require some knowledge from them. For

example, Mathematics as a major course will always require basic English and writing skills to

be able to put the points clearly (Zhou, 198-203). On the other hand, English majors will always

benefit from computational skills and the ability to understand scientific research. In several

colleges, students are required to take introductory level courses to give a foundation of

academic skills and knowledge will later be useful throughout their academic career and other

career paths that they will take in future after graduating from colleges. Core curriculum which

encompasses several basic courses equip the students with basic skills to round out their

education and understanding.

The second reason why all courses in colleges is necessary and students are advised to

undertake the courses is the fact that the courses will be able to create a social awareness. Basic

and core classes provide students with basic social and cultural awareness that they will require

once they are continuing with their major courses or when in the field after graduating

(Hochschild, 76-89). It is important for students to understand the politics of the country as well

as be able to understand and interpret the news well. For college students to possess such

abilities, they need to study history and civics. There are other core courses offered in science

which enable students to understand basic scientific literature and to think critically about

medicine, psychology and sociology. In short, it is clear that undertaking these basic and core

courses while in college before embarking on major courses are necessary and helpful to the

students as they shall have increase their levels of social awareness and reasoning within the
society. These skills will be important when taking their major courses as well as in the

community after graduating from school.

The third reason why it is very important for students to study all courses in college since

it has become a necessity is development of career skills. There are a wide variety of students

that after graduating, they don’t pursue careers in their majors but they usually pursue other

careers different from majors. The main reason why this is possible is because through their

course program, they undertake basic courses which makes it possible for them to pursue other

career paths as long as one has a degree. This has been made possible because every career

undertaken require basic writing and communication skills, the ability for one to think critically

and general cultural awareness (Boatman, Angela, and Bridget, 29-58) Therefore, since most

careers paths in the field requires an individual to have these basic skills which can only be

gained from the basic courses. This shows that it is very necessary for students to undertake all

courses while in college as they will end up having a defined career path and skills.

Lastly, for one to be able to expand their knowledge after high school, there is need to

make sure that they undertake all the college courses as offered including the basic ones. While

in high school, there are students who avoid taking other classes which makes them leave high

school with less knowledge as required. There are students who do not take philosophy and

psychology while others also avoid attending math and science classes. There is need to expand

the knowledge of these students once they step into college and this can be achieved by not only

offering the major courses but basic courses should also be included. Therefore, a core

curriculum will be able to expand the horizon of the students by exposing them to a variety of

fields and types of knowledge (Hendawi, Manal, and Mohammad, 749-765). Through this, the

knowledge of the students shall have expanded and will be able to discover their interests,
passions and talents which without the basic courses they shall have never known about them.

On this, the students will be able to choose their fields of study after understanding themselves

well. Thus, it is important for all courses at college level to be undertaken by the students.

Conclusion

In summary, it has been noted that all college courses are very important and necessary

for students. These courses do not only help them during their school life but they will also

require them in future while defining their career paths. As much as there are students who might

feel that they only need to take only major courses so that they can finish and graduate, they

should also remember they should leave the colleges fully baked all round so that they can easily

adapt in the career field. In order to achieve this, all courses offered should be studied by all

students. Therefore, it is clear that all courses in colleges is a necessity.

 Reference

Boatman, Angela, and Bridget Terry Long. "Does remediation work for all students? How the

effects of postsecondary remedial and developmental courses vary by level of academic

preparation" Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 40.1 (2018): 29-58.

Hendawi, Manal, and Mohammad Rajab Nosair. "Students’ technological awareness at the

College of Education, Qatar University." Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences 15.4

(2020): 749-765.

Hochschild, Jennifer L. "Social class in public schools." Journal of social issues 59.4 (2021).

Zhou, Mingming. "Chinese university students' acceptance of MOOCs: A self-determination

perspective." Computers & Education 92 (2016): 194-203.