Furthermore, many students come to college because of parental pressure or because they have been told that they need a college degree in order to survive in a competitive world. Many of these students have only the dimmest notion of what they want to major in. A sampling of various courses can help them locate their interest and aptitude. Students returning to school after several years also find reassurance in the familiarity of general education courses, and many returning students welcome the opportunity to brush up on fundamentals. Yet another justification for basic studies courses is that they broaden a person's education.
Many people value things according to their usefulness in a material sense.
Science teachers probably experience the same frustration when a humanities student questions the need to study physical science. Newman meant that learning is worthwhile in itself, whether you can buy a hamburger with it or not. General education courses support this commendable philosophy. Admittedly, the subjects being taught in basic studies courses in colleges and universities probably should be taught in high school. But it is futile to discuss what should be done in American high schools as long as teachers are burdened by so many nonteaching duties and by an overload of students of widely divergent ability and motivation.