See this. Saddest quote:
Irene Choi, a psychology student and member of the Undergraduate Council, is thrilled to have more choices. She said that most students “dread” core classes, and that the “about 1,000 students,” she said, that take “Justice,” in the moral reasoning category, just take it for lack of anything more enticing. “Some core fields are so underdeveloped that everybody takes one class,” she said.
Choi added that a science student wants to take three economics courses to fill a social sciences requirement, they should be able to. “Students pay for their education and they expect to be able to take courses they’re interested in,” she said. “If a student wants to take all econ. Why not let them? They’re still learning things.”
Faculty don’t have to teach outside their research areas, which makes for narrow and/or trendy classes. Students don’t have to be challenged by subjects with which they’re uncomfortable or in which they don’t think they’re interested. The cause: self-interest and consumerism. The effect: narrow specialization, ignorance, and illiberality (in the classical sense).
I am going to disagree here. General education belongs in high school. Harvard undergrads should be selected from high schools that are strong enough for them to be admitted directly to a major. This is the practice in many countries.
For such students an undergraduate degree should take three years with electives designed to customize and complement the major field of study.