University education is designed to provide students with the opportunity to broaden their horizons and learn new skills. However, requiring students to take courses outside their major fields of study may not guarantee that they will become truly educated, for there are other factors that determine educational success. I contend that requiring students to take a diverse array of courses is a positive step, but by itself does not ensure success

The statement asserts that requiring students to take a variety of courses outside their major fields of study is the best way to ensure that students become truly educated. The assumption appears to be that students become truly educated by studying only within their major fields of study. However, an alternative viewpoint suggests that a successful education involves the acquisition of a broad range of skills and knowledge. The late philosopher John Dewey observed, ‘To be educated is to become conscious not only of one’s ignorance, but also of one’s ignorance in things.’ In other words, education should not merely involve the acquisition of knowledge in a given field; it should involve the rigorous examination of how knowledge is obtained and the degree to which knowledge is meaningful. A student who aspires to become an engineer and is convinced that the engineer’s job is to produce solutions to technical problems may not fully understand the importance of an engineer’s training in ethics, economics, and the humanities. Such knowledge would be vital to the engineer’s ability to reason critically and construct solutions to complex problems. Similarly, a student who aspires to become a teacher may not fully appreciate the necessity of a teacher’s training in elementary and high school mathematics and science. Students who are knowledgeable about their field but lack the ability to think critically would be unable to create meaningful instruction

Those who hold the view that only in one’s major field of study can one become truly educated argue that courses outside one’s major fields of study tend to teach facts rather than knowledge. Even so, there are significant advantages to studying subjects outside one’s major fields of study. For example, a student who learns a foreign language may discover a love of literature. A student who has the opportunity to explore mathematics in depth may discover a talent in mathematics that she might not otherwise have identified. Similarly, a student who is introduced to a foreign language may find that she enjoys the literature in that language. Such experiences may further broaden the scope of a student’s knowledge and may inspire her to pursue a course of study in another field. In addition, students may discover that they have a desire to pursue a particular field of study. Their exposure to a new field may lead them away from their original goal and into a new one. As a result of their exposure to other fields, students may acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in those fields. As Dewey observed, ‘Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.’The idea that studying in diverse fields may enrich a student’s education may hold some truth, but there are many other factors that determine educational success. These factors include the students’ abilities to learn about different disciplines on their own, their motivation to learn, and their interest in the subject matter. If a student is intelligent and motivated, it is likely that he will become educated. If a student is motivated but lacks an interest in a particular area, taking courses in that area will not improve his learning. Similarly, a student who has no academic interest in the subject area may be motivated to study it simply because the course is required. Thus, requiring students to take diverse courses is a positive step, but by itself does not guarantee success.