The Final Four of Learning

Below is the subject message from the American Council Of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) that handicaps the Sweet 16 schools based on education curriculum.  I have highlighted ACTA's wonderful website entitled "What Will They Learn" several times on this blog.  It should be mandatory reading for anyone planning on sending a student to college before the first application is made.   

 

Just look over the pitiful requirements for a student to graduate from these Sweet 16 schools & you'll quickly see the trouble America is in.  It is not that our students are dumb - its just that they don't know anything after they graduate plus are tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

Dear ACTA Friend,   As college basketball fans know, the Sweet 16 begins today: the next two rounds of the national championship tournament will determine the Final Four. But while commentators speculate about athletic upsets and players' professional futures, no one seems to talk about what these student-athletes--and their fans--are ostensibly at college to do: learning. So we at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni thought we'd have a little fun and engage in a hypothetical Sweet 16, in which teams win not because of grace under pressure or field goal percentages, but because of what students will learn. Read on to discover the Final Four of Learning.       We evaluated teams according to our What Will They Learn subjects: composition, literature survey, American history or government, economics, foreign language, college-level math, and science. Let's go region by region.     WEST   Today's West games in Anaheim pit San Diego State against Connecticut, and Duke against Arizona. San Diego requires four subjects including foreign language, while students at Connecticut can fulfill the foreign language requirement with only elementary study, so it's hasta la vista to the Huskies. Arizona has a strong basketball team, but they all could graduate without any math or science, so Duke heads on to the Elite Eight - when it comes to the core curriculum.   Duke and San Diego State have the same requirements. While Duke is far more expensive, San Diego State graduates only about two thirds of its students in six years, so we'll give the nod to Duke.   SOUTHEAST  Tonight we'll also begin the Southeast regional games in New Orleans--where we see schools sporting the weakest core requirements in the tournament.   In the classroom, Butler upsets Wisconsin, where students can graduate without composition, literature, American history, economics, or math. But Brigham Young beats Florida and Butler for being the only Sweet 16 school to require American history or government.    EAST  On to the East games in Newark. Ohio State, Kentucky, Marquette, and North Carolina all require composition, foreign language, math, and science, but not literature, econ, or American history.   Although UNC, like Ohio State, charges out-of-state students a tuition over $22,000 (not as much as in-state rival Duke!), we'll send the Tar Heels through to the Final Four to recognize their 85% graduation rate and set up an epic (if imaginary) semi-final contest with Duke. (Marquette graduates 80% of their students in six years, Ohio State graduates 75%, and Kentucky only 60%.)   SOUTHWEST    Finally, we have the Southwest region. Florida State and Virginia Commonwealth both require composition and mathematics. But Florida State requires science and foreign language and so ends VCU's Cinderella story.   In the other game, the Richmond Spiders must learn a foreign language, but Kansas wins the day with requirements in composition and literature. Indeed, Kansas is the only Sweet Sixteen team to require literature. How sweet that sounds!   Who will win on the basketball court?  That's a question we're not prepared to answer.   But, what do students learn off the court? That's a question we should all be asking.   All the best.         P.S. Please forward to your friends who might also be asking, "what about the classroom?"