A New Consensus for Undergraduate Education: Can We Get There from Here?

Abstract

Business executives, government leaders and educators concerned with undergraduate curriculum are converging on a set of college outcomes necessary for success in the global society of the twenty-first century. Yet moving postsecondary education toward a curriculum that embraces these outcomes has proven difficult. The preoccupations of faculty members, the American system of courses and credits, demand for easy transfer, the nature of state-imposed requirements and high school graduates' poor understanding of the essential purposes of undergraduate education all seem to stand in the way. Some state system and institutional strategies, however, show promise for breaking the logjam.