All of the schools in the University of North Carolina system pay lip service to the importance of general education for their students — that is, fundamental courses to ensure that they graduate with a well-rounded education. The truth of the matter is that only a few schools take general education seriously.

One of the few that does happens to be Elizabeth City State University. Unlike most of the other campuses, ECSU has a real core curriculum consisting of basic courses that all students take. It guarantees that students will have a large area of shared educational experience. It also guarantees that they won’t waste their time on fluff courses.

Here’s what the ECSU student faces. In English, a sequence of two courses that focus on writing. In literature, a sequence of two courses that focus on literary masterpieces. In the fine arts, students take an art appreciation course, and a music appreciation course. In history, they take a two-course sequence on world civilizations.

In mathematics, students must take at least one course, choosing among College Algebra, Precalculus, or Differential and Integral Calculus, depending upon the strength of their math backgrounds. In natural science, they must take at least one laboratory course. And in social science, they must take two courses drawn from different fields. The range of choice here is limited to fundamental courses in economics, geography, sociology, political science, and anthropology.

This is a no-nonsense, “meat and potatoes” approach to college curriculum. Too bad it’s so rare.

Looking at other UNC-system schools, one finds that getting a well-rounded education is hindered by the great number of courses that are offered, many of them narrow, trendy, or of questionable academic merit.

Consider, for example, East Carolina University. In the social sciences, students are required to choose four courses from at least three different departments. Unfortunately, the choices are not limited to just fundamental courses. Here are some of the ones a student could take for general education credit: Leisure in Society, History of Sports in Western Society, Sociology of Human Sexuality, Geography of Recreation, or Motherhood of God in Asian Traditions.

Some of those might be worthwhile courses (or perhaps not), but they certainly are not building blocks of a strong liberal arts education. Shouldn’t a course in American history be preferred over a course in the history of sports?

At the state’s “flagship” institutions, the situation is substantially worse. North Carolina State University spreads a wide array of courses before the student. To fulfill the requirement in History and Literature, for example, students could choose such courses as Modern American History and Introduction to Shakespeare. That’s perfectly appropriate and very beneficial. But a student might instead take Introduction to the History of West Africa and Hispanic Prose Fiction. Not nearly so appropriate or beneficial as far as general education is concerned, but those courses would satisfy the requirement just the same.

Over at Chapel Hill, the number of courses students can take for general education credit is greater still. Students have to take nine “Perspective” courses, with hundreds to choose from. Here’s a sampling: Environmental Advocacy, Introduction to Rock Music, Sex and Gender in Society, Hegel, Marx, and the Philosophical Critique of Society, Literature and Cultural Diversity, and Social and Economic Justice. It’s like going into a cafeteria where there are a few main dishes amid a lot of desserts.

When faced with their course choices at schools like NC State and Chapel Hill, students are tempted to take the ones that are reputed to be easy and fun. The result is an education that is spotty and incoherent. ECSU avoids that by giving its students a good educational foundation in basic courses.

So here is one place where Elizabeth City beats Chapel Hill — the quality of its general education program. Go Vikings!