Stop unnecessary college courses

I read today in the Letters to the Editor Bruce A. McFadden’s letter (“Burden of student debt,” Dec. 31) regarding costs to go to college.

He stated that the average person who graduated from medical school was $190,000 in debt. He is stating that the state should have the burden of tuition costs instead of the students.

I have another suggestion. For courses like the basic English, history, political science and geography, give entering students a test and if they pass the test, waive the requirements and give them the credits.

My second suggestion is that if a student works and has been working for the same company for a year or more, give them some Liberal Arts credit for it. I believe if someone has been on same job for over a year, they have gotten exposure to courses like philosophy, sociology and psychology. Are these courses really necessary? I for one do not care when I go to my physician if she has not taken any of these courses. I also would not be upset if she told me she never read Shakespeare.

I can see at least three advantages to my idea. The first one is that students could finish school faster and not have as much debt. The second one would be that if they were working and earning money along with getting credit, they would not have to take as many loans. The last one I can think of is that there should be less overhead at the colleges because not as much staff would be needed.

Patricia A. McManus

Spokane Valley