Degrees that Matter

By Alex Usher. One of the huge – and insufficiently studied – differences between North America and European higher education is the way programs are structured, at least as far as Arts and Sciences go.  In most of Europe, entering a program in (say) history means you have to learn a set field of knowledge and skills.
By entering into a 90-credit program in a particular field, you have a fair idea of which courses you will be taking over the next three years because a large proportion of the courses are set.  North America used to be like that too – a century ago.  But then we started to diverge, mainly because of three events. More...