Over the past three decades, the relationship between liberal education and the world of work seems to have changed. In prior years, a deep and broad education in science, arts, social sciences, and the humanities formed the foundation of a college graduate’s intellectual life. Employers, especially those in larger work organizations, brought newly-minted bachelor’s graduates into the organization with a long-run plan. Management training programs often lasted several years. They provided the young worker with tools commonly used in the organization; they taught him/her how work processes were conducted; they instructed these young workers how to succeed in the firm.
Such a relationship between liberal education and the work sector made sense when employees and employers had the understanding that the employees would spend large portions of their careers in the firm and that the firm would offer them job security, justifying their commitment.
Times have changed, with employers less likely to invest large capital into their employees, who, in turn, move among employers more frequently. The changes have brought with them higher needs for bachelor’s degree holders to supplement their liberal education with more education directly suited to a class of occupations they can pursue.
So, it is clear why many of our bachelor’s degree holders pursue master’s degrees at Georgetown.
One of the ideas we’re discussing in the Designing the Future(s) of the University (See: Experiments) is to combine the BA/MA in new ways so that the aims of the liberal education are fulfilled but the students are also given certification of work-relevant skills. The added benefit could be a reduced cost to the family of the student for the combination, relative to a four-year bachelor’s degree and a two-year master’s degree.
There are many options that come to mind, and some of the features of a program would have to be tailored to particular fields. We can start with some observations. First, many Georgetown undergraduates come armed with AP courses under their belt; some finish their studies in less than four years; some take courses over the summer. They’re an ambitious lot. Second, Georgetown already has in many units a set of courses that are shared between advanced undergraduates and graduate students. Third, the use of online education for some portion of the curriculum is a new option.
One idea that has been floated is a four-year dual degree program that actually begins in the senior year of high school. Instead of the AP classes in a particular field, Georgetown would offer credit-bearing courses to qualified seniors. In one manifestation of the program, the senior would have been reviewed, evaluated, and admitted to Georgetown as a degree student; in another, the student would be taking the courses without yet being accepted as degree seeking. The courses might have meetings on the Hilltop once or twice during the term.
The curriculum on the Hilltop would have all the ingredients of a liberal education, with the philosophy, theology, writing, humanities, sciences, and social science courses. Starting in the junior year, the mix of courses would move to those required for the master’s degree.
At the time of graduation, two degrees are bestowed, the liberal education bachelor’s and a more occupationally relevant master’s degree.
There are thousands of details to construct to assure that such a program fulfills its mission. What do you think?
1. Perhaps it would be good to begin such a project with high school students who have been doing excellent work in an International Baccalaureate Program. That way, we have some sense that they have been challenged academically and have the responsibility to do research and writing for the Extended Essay.
2. I wonder how we could manage such an initiative so that it doesn’t add to the inequality divide? For example, if high school students were coming to campus a couple of times, does that limit the initiative to those with plenty of money?
Up until the Bologna process, all European students received their baccalaureate (IB) upon finishing high school and we all went on to a master’s program; it’s length depended on the discipline. In my case– anthropology– it was five years. Other disciplines, including law and medicine, were a bit longer or shorter. However, this type of education depended on a centralized high school curriculum that included foundation in all sciences, arts, and foreign languages. We specialized early and were choosing a track (that led) to our major in high school. We were also tested (during entrance exams) on our knowledge and aptitude in the chosen track. All of this meant that the preparation for study and chosen profession started much earlier than it does in the US.
It sounds like students would take their big intro courses in MOOCs – we used to call it “distance learning” – as high school seniors? Will school systems have prepared students for the challenge (analytical writing in my field) by the start of senior year? Will they have prepared students to be strong applicants by the beginning of junior year, when application season would presumably begin?
Another option is to tack a fifth year onto high school. In it, students are socialized into meeting university-level coursework expectations, and they also gain some of the salable skills we might hope to emerge from the 4-year dual degree. If costs are the problem, that reduces the duration of university to three years. Perhaps it’s up to secondary schools to implement a system like that? As an undergraduate in Canada, I remember some students from some provinces coming from such backgrounds.
Sounds good and doable and smart. The Med school offers a number of i believe five year programs in MBA and Bioethics and others.
This is great to see and I think will help us a lot. Do we have any reliable estimate how many of our students nowadays will go on to get an MA or other postgraduate degree? My sense is that it’s very high now and might affect how we think about the whole undergrad degree and the “major” in particular. If you *know* you’re going to do an MA in Chemistry, could your undergrad degree be a little broader and more interdisciplinary than it was in the days when you had to load up on all the Chemistry you were ever going to get before you graduated?
We should examine the BA/MA programs in the College already underway for a starter. Although they are generally designed as 5 year programs, they sometimes result in a four year degree if a student has sufficient credits. However, the College is credited with the FTEs for all graduate courses so long as the student remains in the College. If four year BA/MA programs are to be encouraged, the Provost might consider modifying this policy. But the value of a liberal arts education in personal development must not be lost sight of in the too rapid pursuit of vocational goals. I have heard from many of my students that they “found themselves” in the College and they weren’t talking about their likely future careers but something deeper.
I think this idea is intriguing. As an alum who applied to Georgetown as an international student, I wonder how we would offer these “credit-bearing courses” to seniors who attend international high schools and/or high schools that are geographically distant from Georgetown. Maybe online coursework here would be appropriate? Also, would these courses be free? If not, then families would have to account for additional tuition costs outside of the four year BA/MA program. The same applies for the in-person classes on the Hilltop.
Again, I think this conversation is important to have as supplemental higher education is becoming increasingly necessary. Similarly, finding ways to make that goal a reality for those determined highlights Georgetown’s mantra, “men and women for others”.