Congressional intern Brentin Ungar never expected to be supplementing his income by hustling for tips at a pizza bar after graduating from Wabash College with a liberal arts degree last year.
“Things have been going slow since graduation,” said Mr. Ungar, who earns $2,600-$3,000 a month from his Capitol Hill and pizza parlor jobs and spends most of his tips on public transportation and food.
“A lot of people are finding out it’s not worth it,” said former Education Secretary William Bennett, an academic philosopher and onetime associate dean of liberal arts at Boston University. Liberal arts advocates have long argued that they serve as a “finishing school” for careers in business, law and medicine that often require additional graduate degrees. A liberal arts education not only nourishes the soul, but also develops the habits of thinking deeply, writing coherently, speaking clearly, listening carefully and making sound judgments — qualities valued by employers, they say.
Making matters worse, employers who previously required a four-year college degree have stopped insisting on it as they struggle to address pandemic-era labor shortages. “They require a willingness to work, to work hard, work with your hands and your brain,” Mr. Page, 38, said in an email. “Why do I want to save a program that’s teaching a woke curriculum instead of the classic core curriculum covering the whole scope of human learning? It’s not what it used to be,” said Mr. Agresto, the former NEH member.
Overall undergraduate college enrollment dropped 8% nationally from 2019 to 2022 and did not rebound even after colleges resumed in-person classes, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. The drop in the rate of high school graduates going to college since 2018 is the steepest on record, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And insiders say most of those kids are more interested in finding stable jobs than in discussing the classics from either a traditional or woke perspective.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Congressional lawmakers slam Biden administration for proposing slush fund for pro-abortion orgsThe Congressional Committee on Education and the Workforce slammed the Biden administration for using regulations from three agencies to create funding for pro-abortion providers.
Read more »
National Democrats will invest to retake South Texas congressional district in 2024The U.S. House Democratic campaign arm will target the 15th Congressional District in next year’s elections, hoping to reclaim the seat from Rep. Monica De La Cruz, the first Republican ever to represent the district.
Read more »
WATCH: Congressional delegation touring Arizona-Sonora border near Douglas WednesdayU.S. Senators and Congressmen from around the country are on the U.S. - Mexico border in Cochise County this morning, and will hold a roundtable on the border crisis at 10 a.m., streamed live on KGUN 9.
Read more »
Republican promising ‘honest leadership’ is running in George Santos’s districtA military veteran turned business exec is running for Congress, promising “to restore integrity” to the district represented by Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.). His résumé is similar to the one Santos fabricated, from humble beginnings to private sector wins.
Read more »
DCCC names 33 GOP seats it aims to recapture in 2024The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced Monday the list of 33 competitive Republican-held or open districts nationwide that it will target in its bid to recapture the House majority in 2024.
Read more »
McCarthy and Jeffries expected to make separate trips to Israel this monthHouse Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries are expected to visit Israel on separate trips later this month, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Read more »