What Kind of Higher Education Institution Do You Attend?

There are many different kinds of higher education institutions we can choose to attend. They serve various purposes depending on the type of education an individual decides is best for them.

• Universities offer a wide range of academic programs and degrees, including bachelor and graduate degrees.
• Community colleges offer two-year associate degree programs, career-specific degrees, and certificates. Often, they provide preparation for transfer to four-year institutions and bachelor degrees.
• Public colleges and universities are government-funded and usually have lower tuition for residents of the state.
• Private colleges and universities are funded by tuition, fees, and non-government sources.
• Four-year colleges and universities are called undergraduate institutions and offer bachelor programs.
• Two-year colleges, such as community, vocational or technical, and career colleges, offer degrees that can be completed in under two years.

In addition to the type of degree you can earn and the length of programs, institutions also differ in the type of courses they offer and require as well as the overall experience. Liberal arts and sciences colleges and universities have a mission to offer courses in the liberal arts and usually have core general education curriculum requirements. The goal of these institutions is to prepare a person in all aspects of life in addition to a career. Vocational, technical, and career colleges offer training that is specialized for particular industries or careers. They will often not have general education requirements or very limited ones.

Discussion 1.3

• What type of education would you expect to receive from an institution with a mission statement like Fitchburg State’s?

Who Makes and Enforces the Rules?

Curriculums are decided upon by faculty, experts in their respective fields with relevant degrees and/or experience. Faculty from various departments across a college or university campus, along with other partners such as staff, administration, and current students, come together to design or revise general education curriculum. Much debate goes into this discussion as there are several considerations to balance.

One is the type and number of courses that should be required. Some of the parameters for these discussions in particular are mandated by accreditation bodies. Accreditation is the process to “ensure that institutions of higher education meet acceptable levels of quality” (“Accreditation in the United States”). Although institutions of higher education in the United States are able to make decisions independently, there does need to be some type of checks and balances: “In the United States, institutions of higher education are permitted to operate with considerable independence and autonomy. […] As a consequence, American educational institutions can vary widely in the character and quality of their programs. To ensure a basic level of quality, the practice of accreditation arose in the United States as a means of conducting nongovernmental, peer evaluation of educational institutions and programs” (“Accreditation in the United States”). In the six New England states, the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) is the regional accreditation agency for colleges and universities, including Fitchburg State.

The NECHE standards for accreditation are broken down to cover each part of the institution. Standard Four concerns the academic program, including general education. Relevant sections read:

4.16 The general education program is coherent and substantive.  It reflects the institution’s mission and values and embodies the institution’s definition of an educated person and prepares students for the world in which they will live.  The requirement informs the design of all general education courses, and provides criteria for its evaluation, including the assessment of what students learn.

4.17 The general education requirement in each undergraduate program ensures adequate breadth for all degree-seeking students by showing a balanced regard for what are traditionally referred to as the arts and humanities, the sciences including mathematics, and the social sciences.  General education requirements include offerings that focus on the subject matter and methodologies of these three primary domains of knowledge as well as on their relationships to one another.

The question of the type and number of requirements is influenced by the need to balance “the three domains of knowledge […] the arts and humanities, the sciences including mathematics, and the social sciences.” Institutions accredited by NECHE are required to demonstrate that all three types of learning are represented fairly in order to “ensure adequate breadth.” When faculty are designing or refining a general education program, this is one of the major concerns, that all three domains have a clear place in the curriculum.

In addition to accreditation concerns, designers of general education curriculums are responsible for maintaining the spirit of liberal arts and sciences education. What should an educated person know and be able to do? How can a general education program guarantee exposure to all of these different types of knowledge and skills? A well-designed curriculum should address these questions, but that is not always easy to accomplish. Designers do their best to discuss, compromise, and build a program that will prepare graduates for life beyond college.