The ROI of a Humanities-Based Core Education

General education courses have come under criticism recently from those concerned about the cost of college, others who argue they are obsolete in the age of AI and even politicians alleging they promote leftist ideologies.

In the latest episode of The Key, Inside Higher Ed’s news and analysis podcast, Andrew Delbanco, the Alexander Hamilton Professor of American Studies at Columbia University and president of the Teagle Foundation, discusses the short- and long-term benefits of a humanities-based core education with IHE editor in chief Sara Custer.

Higher education institutions have a responsibility to push back on the “metrics-driven culture” that reduces the quality of a degree to short-term returns on investment, Delbanco argues. “A liberal education is one whose ROI is a lifetime matter,” he says. “It’s what has this education given you so that you can lead a richer life? And therefore, I’m resistant to the numerical measures, though I’m happy to look at them.”

At the same time, many of the institutions that have developed humanities-based core programs with support from the Teagle Foundation have seen improved student satisfaction, retention and graduation rates, Delbanco says. Engaging with challenging texts in a classroom with peers can also help students in their careers, he argues, using an example of the ethical questions raised for business students reading Machiavelli.

“How do I decide between shareholder interest and the public interest? What kind of leader should I be? Should I base my leadership on fear or should I base it on trust? What should I do if the competition is unscrupulous and isn’t doing what they say they’re doing? Should I hold the line or should go in that direction myself?” he says. “These are the practical questions of life in a business career, and they’re all over that text.”

A core education could also find advocates on both sides of the political spectrum, he argues.

“All serious human questions are hard questions. And giving a doctrinaire answer to such question is a mistake,” he says. “The way that [colleges and universities] make diversity into a genuine educational value, an educational force, is to ask [students] to read some of the same things so they can talk to each other. And learn from each other. I think there’s a liberal-left argument in favor of this kind of education, just as there is a center-right argument in favor of this type of education.”

Listen to the full episode of The Key here.