[Speed Gibson,
Thursday April 26, 2007 at 9:09pm]
B.A., Junior Grade
I see that as North Hennepin Community College, now 40 years old, is expanding to soon offer four year degrees. This is wrong.
First, the already bloated MnSCU system already has plenty of four year campuses. We don't need another, i.e., it's a waste of tax dollars.
Second, this defeats the purpose of a junior college like North Hennepin. It cheapens the brand a little. It encourages some who would otherwise move on to a true four year program at, say, SCSU or Mankato or even the Univesity of Minnesota to settle for what will almost certainly be an academically inferior program because it cannot offer the wider variety of electives of the larger schools.
I also think students shouldn't limit themselves to this more closed social environment. Not that the wild party life at SCSU is right for everyone, but two years at a quiet commuter campus is enough.
But let's focus on the money - our money. If we need more upper division capacity, let's beef up a real four year program, which also may prove less expensive.
First, the already bloated MnSCU system already has plenty of four year campuses. We don't need another, i.e., it's a waste of tax dollars.
Second, this defeats the purpose of a junior college like North Hennepin. It cheapens the brand a little. It encourages some who would otherwise move on to a true four year program at, say, SCSU or Mankato or even the Univesity of Minnesota to settle for what will almost certainly be an academically inferior program because it cannot offer the wider variety of electives of the larger schools.
I also think students shouldn't limit themselves to this more closed social environment. Not that the wild party life at SCSU is right for everyone, but two years at a quiet commuter campus is enough.
But let's focus on the money - our money. If we need more upper division capacity, let's beef up a real four year program, which also may prove less expensive.