<p>
Question: do you listen to music?</p>
<p>I actually have a similar but different perspective: I think art absolutely improves people’s lives, and creating and studying art is one of the most important and satisfying things people can do with their time, but it does not make much sense to me to turn the study of art into a structured endeavor with things like “grades” and “credits” and “degrees”, which kind of seems to ruin the spirit of art. At least for people who do not plan to make a living studying it. I think it is utter BS that the ability to graduate with a degree should be used as leverage to sucker people into paying money to study art and earn credit for it in order to make them “well rounded” (whatever that means). Of course, if they are not studying it for credit, then they should still spend just as much time reading the classics, visiting museums, etc. in their free time. But that should be their choice, not the choice of a system that has a monopoly on all forms of formal education.</p>
<p>My opinion is the same regarding liberal arts majors being required to study science and math. But the difference is that art is far more accessible without faculty and facilities than science or math, since lab activities are indispensable for learning science, and so are teachers/tutors for students who struggle with mathematical concepts.</p>
<p>It is much easier to justify the cost of a college degree if you get GE classes out of the way at a community college where they cost less. Even better for high school students who take community college classes so that (a) the classes are free and (b) they kill two birds with one stone by taking care of college admission requirements and college graduation requirements simultaneously.</p>