Letters to the Editor: Go ahead, major in English. Just don’t go into debt to do it

To the editor: Nicholas Goldberg asks where all the English majors have gone. The answer is simple: They’ve gone where they’ve always gone. They’ll probably become teachers or lawyers.

The question many liberal arts majors may be asking themselves is this: Why did I get myself into debt by attending a “highly ranked” college if I’m going to end up being a teacher? After all, California State University schools are the best teacher prep colleges in the state.

And liberal arts majors who decide to become lawyers may be asking themselves a similar question: Would it have been better to attend a state school instead of going into debt at a “highly ranked” college and actually have some money to attend law school?

Getting into a “highly ranked” undergraduate school is good for bragging rights, but a good teacher is still a good teacher, and a good lawyer is still a good lawyer, no matter what colleges they attended.

So to answer Goldberg’s question, the English majors are doing just fine.

Mark Walker, Yorba Linda

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To the editor: Goldberg writes well and wisely about the decline in college humanities majors. Science and technology make our lives easier. The liberal arts make our lives better and richer.

No government or business really wants people who think critically, despite the claims to the contrary. We cast aside at our peril those classes and courses that don’t lead directly to jobs.

The high cost of education, something earlier generations did not have to worry about so much, is resulting in the grim societal consequences we see all around us.

Fred Glienna, Pasadena

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To the editor: Colleges have increasingly relied on adjuncts to teach courses in humanities. Part-time professors are hired by the semester and paid much less than what a full-timer makes.

We also have no job security. In the recession that started in 2008, I went from making about $65,000 a year to $18,000 in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, inept administrators pull in six-figure salaries and are nearly impossible to dismiss.

When a bright student asks me how he or she can follow in my footsteps, I say: “Don’t. You can’t make a living in the humanities.”

Ralph Tropf, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I’ve always wondered why anyone would spend real money on a liberal arts degree, and it seems the light bulb is starting to go on for kids and families. It’s telling them, “This is not a smart way to invest in your future.”

Goldberg quotes someone as saying, “It’s not like humanities majors are ending up as baristas.” Uh, yes, they are. College is supposed to prepare you for your future. It only works if you have an idea of what that future is going to look like and how your major will get you there.

Colleges don’t teach you how to think anymore; they teach you what to think. Folks are catching on.

Tom Schmiedeberg, Solana Beach