Liberal Arts Majors Down; Some Educators Alarmed
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SAN FRANCISCO — California college and university students are abandoning liberal arts in favor of business and technology, a trend that has alarmed educators predicting many state schools will become narrow technical institutions.
“This represents one of the most significant changes in higher education,” said Pat Callan, executive director of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. “It’s an enormous shift.”
A survey by the group shows that over the last five years, the percentage of business majors at the 19-campus California State University system increased 39%. Engineering majors increased 75% and computer science majors were up 165%.
During the same period, Cal State majors in philosophy dropped 39%, history majors were down 30%, political science fell 26% and sociology was off 37%.
“In effect, these campuses are headed toward becoming technical institutions,” said Norman Charles, a commission analyst. “The liberal arts are in the midst of a downward spiral that’s quite alarming.”
Charles said the University of California system appears “a little steadier” than the state universities, with a less pronounced shift toward “vocational” studies.
Anthony Moye, Cal State system assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, predicted that enrollments in liberal arts would stabilize and begin to increase. But Callan dismissed that as “a lot of wishful thinking.”
“I wish it would happen too, because society itself could otherwise be in serious trouble,” Callan said. “But I see no evidence for a turnaround.”
The commission survey shows California reflecting national trends. Between 1980 and 1982, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in business increased 17% nationally.
Major campuses have been reacting to the movement toward job-oriented studies by requiring more courses in the humanities and social sciences.
Stanford University now requires three freshman quarters of “Western Culture,” a year-long survey of history, philosophy, literature and the arts from the days of the ancient Greeks.
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