LACs get no respect

gc414
Tue, 17 Aug 2010 14:18:42 +0000

ahh i sent an email (2, actually, because i typoed my subject in the first one…)

As an incoming freshman at a liberal arts college I am extremely disappointed that “The Today Show” failed to show the liberal arts colleges ranking in tandem with the US News & World Reports’ “Top National Universities” rankings. It’s not because I think that liberal arts colleges are superior to universities, but it is because it gives viewers a unilateral view of America’s higher education offerings. Not only are you perpetuating the myth that students can only obtain a top-notch education from a group of 50 universities on a generalized, impersonal list, but your segment also implies that liberal arts colleges do not provide an equal, if not better, education to their undergraduates than those universities.
In the future I hope that your show will broaden its perception of the undergraduate experience in the United States. Instead of focusing on select publications’ narrow definition of “top” research universities and liberal arts colleges you can emphasize that our country has a wide array of educational institutions, varying in size, atmosphere, diversity, offerings, duration, etc., which can provide each individual with an education that’s appropriate to them.

lol.