American Education’s Crisis of the Soul: My Story
American universities are facing a crisis, a crisis with roots in predominant contemporary ideologies regarding higher education. Since high school, I’ve heard students complain about the idiocy of requiring calculus, chemistry, or any other courses deemed irrelevant in prospective careers. This notion has permeated higher education as well, with one of my close friends boasting that her European university didn’t require “useless” gen-eds that burn up tuition money, a price which is decidedly not worth spending on courses that do not directly prepare students for their respective lines of work. This perspective may be pragmatic, but it misses the point. The soul of education, chiefly higher education, is not just the acquisition of resume-worthy skills but the cultivation of the mind. Some of my favorite courses I have taken have been gen-eds, because I had the opportunity to learn about something niche, purely for the sake of passion and curiosity, from an expert in the field. That is a precious opportunity that seldom exists outside of university institutions. These classes are likewise fertile ground for thinking critically about engaging topics and expanding general knowledge, allowing students to become informed, well-rounded members of society. These courses are precious because they are not for your career, but for you.
Unfortunately, the barriers to soulful education have seemingly grown tenfold, even in our own backyard.
According to the Daily Emerald, the University of Oregon anticipated a $25-30 million budget deficit this academic year (Love & Handris, 2025), resulting in sweeping layoffs within the College of Arts and Sciences prior to Fall term (Anthony & Norgren, 2025). I was personally impacted by the budget deficit and the damage that followed. My beloved Swedish Language Course, which was one of the reasons I chose UO, was gone; my second year BA Language requirement be damned. Every effort the Scandinavian department, my classmates, and I made was ultimately in vain. A heartfelt letter I wrote to Dean Chris Poulsen begging him to spare the course was left with no response.
Three language courses were wiped out this past summer, and two more may be next on the chopping block(Love & Handris, 2025). UO made these administrative decisions despite the $25 million donation the university received from the Schnizter CARE foundation, a donation that was specifically intended for the language department(Anthony & Norgren, 2025). How that money is being used, I cannot say. And it would appear that the CARE foundation can’t say either, as I reached out to them weeks ago asking that very question; they claim they have no bearing or knowledge on how the donation is used. What a shame a donation made in good faith couldn’t stop me from losing my religion.
Part of the reason I chose to attend the University of Oregon was because of its unique course offerings, as Swedish is a hard language to come by. The Swedish language course and the Scandinavian department electives discussing various literature, culture, and history were all ways that I could immerse myself in my cultural heritage, an opportunity I seldom have as a second-gen American. And what a rich opportunity it was; sitting in class with professors knowledgeable enough to provide me a glimpse into that world, studying alongside students with similar(or different) backgrounds as mine, learning about Scandinavian culture and language in a classroom on the other side of the world. It breaks my heart to know that the Scandinavian department, as it stands now, is a shell of what it used to be, stripped down to its bare bones because of circumstances beyond the University’s control.
And the University of Oregon is unfortunately not unique. In times of political upheaval, university institutions can be a sanctuary for preserving knowledge, expression, and innovation, serving as a beacon of hope for souls lost to political turbulence. As such, amid the contemporary political mess, American universities face unprecedented challenges, with the powers that be attempting to dictate what should and should not be taught by threatening to withhold funding, or flat-out demanding the structural removal of courses that encourage critical social and political analysis, which is the cornerstone of a functioning American democracy. Preserving cultural and ideological diversity is now a political statement, which makes doing so more critical than ever. In failing to do so, UO and universities like it are ultimately kneeling to the current political milieu, hurting students and contributing to the downward spiral of American education and, thus, politics.
Enter, nuance. The University of Oregon is trying. In my case, they’ve developed the University’s first-ever Course Share program through the University of Minnesota so that my classmates and I can finish our second year of Swedish and graduate on time. It seldom replaces what we had, as the inherent truth of being a guinea pig is that there are kinks to work out, and the Zoom format at times makes me question where my out-of-state tuition is disappearing to, but they tried.
And so, the hardest part of this disillusionment pill I’ve had to swallow is knowing and seeing that the people on the ground care. Every person directly involved in the day-to-day of the Course Share program is so clearly rooting for us and doing what they can to make the best out of difficult circumstances. But it is with a heavy heart that I admit that, as long as the man up top doesn’t care, there is only so much anyone else can do.
In this sense, the commodification of higher education is perpetuated by university institutions themselves. When universities cut away some of the very programs that make higher education soulful, that serve the original purpose of enriching young minds in a myriad of ways, they are affirming that the new, chief purpose of higher education is simply career-readiness. Students shell out tens of thousands of dollars for a resume bullet point and a diploma. After all, who can afford to invest just in their minds in this economy?
Universities must do better. Especially now, the bright minds of America’s future deserve the education they were promised, and that entails feeding their souls, giving them the space to question the systems and social structures around them, to learn for its own sake, to discover academic passion so that it may guide them through the murky waters of growing up, which is a process that never truly ends. Studying for the sake of a degree and career advancement may be a noble pursuit. But philosophy, literature, art, history, languages, and cultural studies are what breathe life into hungry minds and hearts, sustaining souls for decades to come, making a world that is better for it. And the preservation and reinstatement of that lustrous well can start here, for those daring enough to try.
About the author: Anna Viden is a senior majoring in Psychology with minors in Sociology and Media Studies.