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DEGREES WITHOUT CLASSES?  OR AS THE PASTRY CHEF WROTE 'CONGRADULATIONS'

2/25/2013

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Jennifer Hunt, Tamar Lewin tells us in the New York Times of January 25th, got a bachelor's degree from Thomas Edison State  College without ever taking a course there.  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/education/25degree.html?ref=tamarlewin&_r=0

I wants to cheer for he.  It wasn't easy; she probably worked harder than many undergraduates in cushier circumstances; she probably appreciates her degree more than they do.

But is this the future? The devil lurks in the details -- What counted for credit? What learning?  How do we know?  And there's a less nitty-gritty question too -- What does a bachelor's degree add up to?  The dominant view has been  that it is the sum of leaps through a certain number of credit hours..  Don't multiply, add. If   32 courses or so add up to  100+ credit hours, you've got your degree.   

But, i f you believe in liberal education you look for more than addition -- synergies, evidence of cumulative personal and intellectual growth, long lasting  benefits like clarity of mind and adaptability.  Is that what's happening when a college just processes reports of college course equivalency?

Some years ago a staff member at the National Humanities Center completed after years of trying a bachelor's degree. The  cake we ordered for her came back with the wonderful sugary typo, CONGRADULATIONS.  So, Ms Hunt, congradulations to you too and thanks for raising these questions for us.  
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