In the United States Higher Education system students are forced to fulfill general education requirements. These requirements range from mathematics, to gym classes, to art courses. They do teach the student a number of skills, for these classes are the higher education versions of every class a student is required to take in grade school. Every student must take these classes in order to graduate, and therein lies the problem. Many of these courses that are required actually have little to nothing to do with the field the student is studying.

While it is understood that some course requirements are to help the college student further their education, such as courses in writing essays, basic mathematics, gym and/or health, others offer no applicable skills unless you have a major in or seek a job in the department or field. It is quite evident that these courses offer no real advantage in taking them, yet students are forced to take these courses, do all of the required work required for them, and pay for them handsomely.

Although there is much debate as to why students must take these courses in the first place, there is a more a popular idea at hand. It is commonly believed that things are they way they are as it pertains to course requirements so that the people who run the colleges and universities, either private or public, can line their pockets with the hard earned money of their paying students. Again, it is unclear if this is the true reason behind this, but there is not much commonly known to disprove this line of thought either.