Perhaps I am strange in the notion that I actually was anxious for school to start again this semester. It was not because I relished the idea of spending 600 dollars on textbooks, or even that I had friends that I wanted to gossip with and find out what they did over summer.

Honestly? I wanted to learn.

Perhaps I am in the minority at colleges, given that my advisor warned me -against- taking too many classes outside of my degree plan. "If you go 50 hours or more over your degree plan," she warned, "you'll have to start paying out of state tuition."

Wait, what? Slow down there.

I'm paying for my education, helping fund the college (I am not on financial aid outside of Texas Tomorrow Fund, which is my parents' own money), and should I pass this magical number of 50 credit hours over the number of credits to graduate...I have to start paying out of state tuition?

Does anyone else see a problem with this?

I suppose I somewhat understand the logic; they wish students to get in, learn what they need to, and get out. But shouldn't you be encouraging people to broaden their horizons beyond their course curriculum? Apologies, but 'core curriculum', as much as it is touted about like some cure-all, is nothing more than a nuisance to those of us who already take classes outside the norm.

Do I really need to learn about US History when I've taken classes in World History and World Literature? Shouldn't there be some measure of going above and beyond the recommended core curriculum to where we can substitute in classes for the core curriculum?


I really think this is a system that should be examined by universities, as it is rather frustrating. x.x