Brandeis University says it is revamping its humanities offerings to focus on preparing its students for the workforce. It is one of many schools that are making such moves.
AYESHA RASCOE, Host:
It’s a tough job market for recent graduates, and more and more young people in the US are questioning the need for a college education. That puts liberal arts colleges under pressure to prove their worth, such as Brandeis University in Massachusetts, where educators are trying to reshape the humanities. As member station GBH’s Kirk Carapezza reports, Brandeis focuses on building skills and providing students with work experience before graduation.
UNIDENTIFIED ADVISER: Did you learn anything about the publication that you didn’t know before?
MIRIAM GRODIN: Certainly. I think the whole kind of timeline of the process was really interesting to dive into a little bit more.
KIRK CARAPEZZA, Byline: Tucked away in the stacks of the Brandeis library, junior Miriam Grodin is looking for a job at the university’s publishing company.
UNIDENTIFIED ADVISER: You can see the advantage of working at a small press because you can see how it all fits together.
GRODIN: Yes. And like, I – that’s something that I’ve talked about in the classes that I take as well.
CARAPEZZA: The 20-year-old from Livingston, New Jersey, hopes to become an editor one day.
GRODIN: I like to read. i love writing I know I want to get into book publishing, but I feel like it’s something that’s kind of mystical.
CARAPEZZA: This job shadowing program is part of Brandeis’ plan to make the world of work a little less mystical. From next year, every student here will have the opportunity to use what they have learned in the classroom and apply it in a real work environment. It also adds more student support. Brandeis President Arthur Levine says that once they step on campus, every student is given two advisors — one academic, one career — and two transcripts.
ARTHUR LEVINE: One will have grades and the course they’ve taken, and the other will be a record of what they know and what they can do.
CARAPEZZA: Levine says the economy is changing dramatically, so schools must also evolve and make sure students acquire specific skills like communication, digital literacy, critical thinking and adaptability. Brandeis, with an endowment of roughly $1.4 billion, could drag on for years, but with fewer potential students, the school has discounted tuition by more than 60% just to fill its seats.
In any other industry, you’d be out of business.
LEVINE: Absolutely. What would people say about Tiffany if they announced tomorrow, hey, we’re having a half price jewelry sale. It’s not the markup quality that you have to discount at this level.
CARAPEZZA: Last year, Levine pitched his restructuring plan to professors to improve the quality of Brandeis education, and it worked.
LINDA BUI: Eighty-eight percent of the faculty voted yes. You never see that level of agreement on anything at university.
CARAPEZZA: Linda Bui is the dean of the new School of Business and Economics. It is a merger of what used to be the International Business School and the Economics Department. He says the two were already close.
BUI: We share a building. We share seminars. We share all kinds of resources. So combining the two made a lot of sense.
CARAPEZZA: He says these changes will free up resources and help students get the skills they really need to get jobs. And Brandeis is not alone. Clark University in Worcester, Mass., the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Georgia Tech in Atlanta have all recently restructured departments and revamped their liberal arts programs, emphasizing applied humanities that integrate career preparation directly into the curriculum.
Brandon Busteed runs a company that provides students with industry experience. He says other top schools should pay attention to what Brandeis and several other schools are doing.
BRANDON BUSTEED: The No. 1 reason students apply for higher education is to get a good or better job.
CARAPEZZA: And if families continue to feel that graduates are leaving campuses unprepared for the workforce, Busteed predicts that other colleges will soon follow Brandeis’ example.
I’m Kirk Carapezza in Boston for NPR News.
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