IU receives ‘D’ on gen-ed report card

Summer grades are in.

While Purdue hangs its B on the fridge, IU shuffles home with a D.

A recent report studying the general education requirements at leading universities questioned IU’s overall education.

The study, titled “What will they learn?” looked at the curriculums of 100 colleges and universities across the nation, said David Azerrad, program officer for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, which conducted the report.

“The report is meant to be a study on higher education,” Azerrad said. “Our argument is there are seven key areas every student should know.”

According to the report, universities should include composition, literature, foreign language, U.S. government or history, economics, mathematics and science as required general education courses for each student.

Of the 100 universities, 42 received D’s and F’s, Azerrad said. In the report, IU received a D for only requiring two of the seven subjects, composition and foreign language.

Because the mathematics and science courses are combined in a single distribution category, IU was not credited for either subject.

“Combination does not ensure knowing both,” Azerrad said. “We want to make sure students are both scientifically literate and mathematically educated. They are equally important.”

Sonya Stephens, vice provost for undergraduate education at IU, said there are limitations to the report.

Two main weaknesses, she said, are that the report takes a particular view about education where students all take the same courses and that it does not take all schools on the Bloomington campus into account.

The council focused on the college of arts and sciences in each university, Azerrad said.

“They are measuring something that’s constantly changing,” Stephens said. “They took one educational view of a narrow curriculum taken by all and used it to rate schools that each have their own models of general education.”

A new curriculum for entering IU freshmen will be set in 2011, she said. The curriculum will require students of each school to take a total of 31 to 32 credits in general education courses, Stephens said, as well as credits in intensive writing, information fluency, diversity and enriching educational experiences.

“The report implies that IU students do what they want and take easy courses to get good grades,” she said. “But that’s not what IUB does at all. The report underestimates students’ commitment to learning.”

The report is not an argument against choice, Azerrad said, but rather that there are seven key areas that need to be covered. “What Will They Learn?” was meant to be a wake-up call to parents, faculty members and others involved in the universities, he said.

“It’s a rule of thumb that people pay more attention to reputation than education,” Azerrad said. “However, some universities tout virtues of a strong curriculum but allow students to graduate with a thin education.”

While IU received a D in the report, Stephens said she thinks students at IU are getting a broad education.

“Students would be hard-pressed to find as many opportunities in specialization,” she said.