In order for students to do well in college, it is necessary they be prepared for what awaits them. Over the years, high schools have created college preparatory courses, mostly in the math and science disciplines, to better enable their students to handle higher education’s academic rigors.

NIU has now adopted new freshman admittance criteria for next fall. The new standards are based on high school curricula. But instead of focusing on specialized fields, the courses are in the areas of social sciences and humanities, such as foreign language and art, as well as the traditional areas of math and science.

A common complaint in recent years has been that humanities or liberal arts studies are of little value or are irrelevant to one’s major course of study. What many fail to realize, especially before they are exposed to college life, is that college is more than just specialized study.

The purpose of college is to educate people. Higher education was never intended to be, and should never be, merely a place for job or career training.

NIU requires all students to pass at least nine hours of humanities, six hours of social sciences and three hours of interdisciplinary study to graduate. Those courses are required in addition to the seven hours of math and science classes and the english and communications class requirements.

The purpose for the varied requirements is to expose students to a broad array of subjects, to help them choose specific areas of study and to round out their college education.

Because students are required to pass humanities classes at the college level, it only makes sense that these areas of study not be neglected before college. Just as students need a head start in math and science in order to do well, they also need to be familiar with subjects such as history, government and art.

NIU’s new admission standards require incoming freshmen to have taken three years of English, two years of mathematics, science and social science and one year of art, film, foreign language or theater. Through this, students are being prepared for what they can expect in college—required exposure to many fields.

That way, students can be truly educated and not merely trained.