General Education (Gen-Ed for short) is the first part of a college education, before the main classes that establish one’s degree. They are a required curriculum that consists of a set of standard classes that cover 1/3 to ½ of a degree - between 42-60 semester-based college credits. English, basic math, natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities are the types of classes that a prospecting college student would be forced to take as their prerequisites. Each college ranges in the number of general education credits that their students need to fulfill, creating an unequal balance between those classes and their core requirements for their degree.

The average college's general education program is designed to be completed in a student’s first two years in a university. With the average cost of college (including tuition, fees, room and board) for a four-year public university being $17,131, a student is spending about $34,262 just on general education credits. In a society where the average student loan debt is $37,172, general education courses are hurting students more than they are helping them. They may broaden a student’s horizons and provide a foundation for advanced work, but they are unnecessary for a student’s specific degree. Throughout elementary, middle, and high school, students have essentially been completing Gen-Ed courses, more so if the student partook in AP or honors/advanced classes. Therefore, students are already prepared and can move into courses that will benefit their degree, while saving a significant amount of time and money.

Because of the uninvolved nature of general education courses and the excessive cost it would take to obtain those credits, they should either be shortened or removed from a college’s curriculum.