The Evergreen State College
@ucbalumnus
lol if op is looking for a more conservative college, evergreen is not the way to go
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By the way, op, you say that:
“My child will hopefully be educated enough that they can analyze and argue for/against any particular argument. That’s what the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages in curricula like classical education are all about. I just want them to be given the space needed to focus on the field they chose to major in at college.”
If that’s the case, then you don’t need to worry about what college your kid goes to. They’ll be able to analyze both sjw and right wing arguments and determine for themselves which they want to believe in (or somewhere in the middle).
I’m not sure your approach is sound given your explanation of why you are asking this question. Any school that dispenses with core curricula and required courses would fit your bill, but you might still end up with a highly-politicized environment. Lots of people come on this site looking for schools that are what I would call politically neutral. My son for one was very put off by the SJW atmosphere he encountered at some of the schools he looked at - he just didn’t want to be pushed one way or the other and preferred to be in an environment with a more “live and let live” feel. As it turns out, he found that at a school that does have a Power and Justice requirement. There are a lot of interesting classes in various departments that can be used to satisfy that requirement, and he has no problem with it. At the same time, there are schools like Vassar, which doesn’t have any required courses but does have a reputation for its liberal leanings.
Many of the big publics accept AP credits that can cover most if not all the gen ed requirements. My D only needed to take an oral communications class at Purdue. The overall environment may not be a match though.
That’s true, AP credits can get help an incoming freshman earn enough credits to skip their way to junior-level status. Same if you come in with dual college-high school credits through programs like Post Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) from states like Minnesota, Ohio or Washington State, which allows them to take college classes at taxpayer expense.
Would have to look at each school for details, but for those that have “social justice” and/or “cultural diversity” requirements, there probably isn’t a way to get out of taking those courses using some kind of AP credit. AP credits cover more generic stuff like chemistry, math, physics, a foreign language, history etc.
I do not believe URochester has any such requirement.
AP World History usually covers the “diversity” requirement at colleges that require it. Having high proficiency in a foreign language (AP level typically) can also waive some requirements either in world cultures or in foreign language.
However, if you don’t want a college with these gen ed requirements and you want your child to be able to focus on STEM, then my recommendation would be to look at Irish and British schools. In Scotland there’ll be a choice of 1 subject per semester which can be anything (including another science), and in Ireland/England/NI, it’ll be all-STEM all the time. Selection is pretty much based on AP classes and AP scores (4’s at some universities, 5’s at many) in the subjects the child wants to study. For a STEM applicants: AP Calculus BC (AB would be less well-accepted), AP Physics 1/2/C, plus AP English and another AP in science (Chemistry or CS) or sometimes in anything the student wishes as long as it’s a 5. Something similar exists in Canada, too. You can look at the STEM majors offered at UBC, Simon Fraser, Lethbridge, UOttawa, McMaster, McGill, Concordia…
Hmm AP trick doesn’t work for UMN as an example. They don’t let AP history fulfill “diversity and social justice in the United States”. Nothing can, it appears.
https://admissions.tc.umn.edu/academics/ap.html
Maybe other big public universities are nicer about this. Idk
OP, are you opposed to even a basic and general Sociology 101 or Psychology 101 requirement? I am puzzled by your response to my post. I have been looking at different CS graduation requirements and programs for two years and have not seen a single one that requires SJW-type classes UNLESS you are counting those general 101 requirements. Yes, you may take specific SJW topics if you so choose, but there are plenty of other options, including those 101 classes. As one admissions officer said in an info session, “We have a writing or humanities requirement because we want to make sure our tech students can communicate effectively with their end users.” So take Psychology 101 or “Classical Mythology” if you don’t want to take “History of BLM”. The choice is yours, and all anyone cares about is that you actually earn the degree.
Off the top of my head, there are no SJW requirements for CS/Engineering at UIUC, Rose Hulman, MSOE, MIT, CMU, Purdue, Rice, Notre Dame, WUSTL, Brown, WU, ISU, UIC, or CP-SLO. There may, however, be a liberal arts requirement or two.
“Liberal Arts” does not literally mean politically liberal classes. Go study Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That’s an example of classical liberalism.
Are courses like this widely required? None of my kids’ schools – one of which was a highly selective LAC with a strong SJW reputation – required students to take a course on diversity issues. They had to attend at least one session on racial/gender sensitivity during frosh orientation week, but certainly nothing beyond that.
Most colleges require that student take a course in any subject that also includes a variety of perspectives. The course may be directly about non European perspectives, such as African Americans in the health system or may just include a component such as some readings in a comparative literature class or may be inherently eye-opening such as anthropology. Even “classics” programs, even Hillsdale, even “serious” Evangelical colleges such as Pepperdine, Calvin or Wheaton require one of the latter two types.
Canadian, Irish, or British universities do not require any gen eds, thus solving the issue a legitimate degree without gen eds.
(Because Bob Jones is not quite considered legit outside specific circles).
More than one or two. ABET accredited engineering degree programs must have at last a quarter of the curriculum in math and natural sciences (which are liberal arts) and an unspecified amount of general education requirements. Some of the named colleges have fairly heavy general education requirements, such as MIT and CPSLO (like other CSUs). Brown is notably light on general education requirements, although for ABET accredited engineering majors, there are four courses (about one eighth of the curriculum) in humanities and social studies that are required (where other majors do not have such a requirement).
CPSLO does have a “US Cultural Pluralism” requirement: https://academicprograms.calpoly.edu/content/academicpolicies/Policies-Undergrad/USCP-policy
However, some courses that can fulfill it include US history to 1865, US history since 1865, California history, sports and gender, food and nutrition customs and culture, etc… It is not like you can have a well taught general US history course without any mention of cultural diversity.
However, it does answer the title question as asked, since it has no specific course requirements of any kind (at least for the BA degree).
Im just going to laugh if his kid wants to actually major in social work. 
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Hi @blahmanyo I work at Starbucks as a college student and have not burned down anything in my life. I work there to pay for costs of living that my scholarship that I earned won’t cover. I go to a school where all different types of courses are offered. Because RateMyProfessors is available I can choose courses with professors I like, that introduce me to new perspectives. In the past, I have agreed and disagreed with some ideas, but it has not once affected my course grade if I have or have not. In the mind of a student, we are aware that professors have biases, as can we. Once that is established, it really is not a terribly big deal to take a couple courses I may or may not agree with the content of. If I want to take a course in WGST or CRES I can, but if not I can take another class to fulfill core requirements. College is what you make of it; don’t let college make you think or act a certain way.
https://www.rochester.edu/about/curriculum.html
This school has a pretty open curriculum it looks like aside from taking a writing-intensive course to polish one’s communication skills, plus what’s required by one’s major. They also mention that students need to add on a “cluster” too. If this does not require “cultural diversity” or “social justice” college-wide, then this school’s general education requirements seem fine. Thanks for mentioning it.
You got that right. Evergreen state college technically would qualify for what I am looking for if they have no college-wide general education requirements at all. That being said, other recent news about them the last few years would make me want to avoid the school, but that’s separate issue.
Not my cup of tea. Based on the responses I am seeing on here, there are still plenty of colleges that don’t have explicit college-wide course requirements like this.
Rose Hulman institute of technology does not have any explicit “social justice” or “cultural diversity” course requirements for graduation. They just require a few courses within the arts & humanities. All the courses that qualified on their course catalogue looked pretty normal and politically neutral based on course titles.
Thanks for pointing out that CalPoly requirement they call “US Cultural Pluralism”. Another set of keywords to watch out for. Looking at what qualifies, this is also the kind of thing I want to avoid.
“Address the diverse intellectual, philosophical, and cultural perspectives of historically marginalized people in the United States” Yuck!
No, I don’t care about generic graduation requirements forcing students to take one semester of freshman psych or sociology.
Just considering colleges in the USA here, but good to know. Thanks
This is precisely the kind of thing I want for my kids college education if they don’t go heavy into a STEM major. CLASSICAL LIBERALISM should be the foundation of any western college curriculum. We wouldn’t have things like the scientific method without it.
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Have you set a college budget for your kids yet? Many families can’t afford to send their children to residential college. Most students commute to their local 4 year or community college. If finances matter, it wouldn’t hurt to run the Net Price Calculator at a couple colleges to see how much they might cost you if you had a kid attending this year. The very specific kind of fit you’re looking for is generally only available to those who can pay for it. If you’re full pay, you’ll probably have several options. If your budget is tight, it will be more of a challenge.