General education is being rewritten in real time. Its historic purpose — preparing students to think, judge, communicate, and participate as citizens — is increasingly being recast as a system for producing measurable workforce outcomes.
This essay examines what is lost when institutions treat education primarily as labor-market preparation, and why faculty and the public must defend the broader civic purpose of college before the transformation becomes ordinary.
This essay was published on Substack and is linked below in full while its permanent on-site edition is prepared.
Read the complete essay →All essays