It is at this time of year when students dust off their course catalogs, visit their adviser that they have not seen in many months, and then hope for a schedule that does not require to rise out of bed before the sun.

This is also when one question is passed from student to student: Does anyone know if this course easy, or does it require work?

It is a question that has resided on college campuses for eons and as students who are paying for their education, it is certainly their choice if they wish to short themselves on their own education and future ability to compete in the global market. 

However, teachers should work hard to not find themselves in the “this class is a breeze” category.

A common occurrence that is making its way into Iowa State’s classrooms is teachers who drop the difficulty of their class after the first test. If a large number of students do not pull in a good grade on their first test or project, some professors will alter their course work to make it easier, and more passable, for their students.

This is not the point of a college education. Students should be challenged, the classes should be difficult, and it is the student who should rise to meet the difficulty of the class. 

This is the only way that we as a society can continue to produce professionals that will be more than competent, but excel in their future careers.

Students who are challenged in their classrooms will know how to meet greater challenges in the future because a job will certainly not lower its expectations if an employee is struggling, they will simply let that employee go.

That is not to say there are not challenging dropout classes offered to students across campus, nor does that mean that professors should make all of their classes so difficult they operate as a dropout course. It simply means that professors should not lower their expectations of a class before giving the students the chance to prove themselves.

Many students might do poorly on a first exam, but that does not mean that they will not rise to the occasion on the next one. 

Dropping the difficulty of a course is also severely unfair to the students who did do well at the start of the class and is paying large amounts of money to have the best education possible.

Cheating these students out of what they have paid for because they either took the time to study, or in some cases just naturally do well with the subject, is one of the most unjust things a professor can do.

If students want an easier course, they will find one; professors don’t need to change their work to meet the students needs. 

Students also always have the capability to dedicate more time to studying, finding a tutor or even dropping the course if they truly are struggling. However, the student that does want to be challenged does not have a way to make the course more difficult.

Future employers have high expectations for what they want to see out of graduates from Iowa State. 

If courses at Iowa State are continually becoming easier, the graduates that are produced from the university will be less and less prepared for their future jobs, making ISU graduates less appealing to job offers.

Unfortunately, the world rarely adapts itself to a single person or group, it is the person that must learn to adapt themselves to the world. 

This lesson can be reinforced every day in the classroom by teaching students who are struggling new ways to study or better time management skills so they can continue to excel. 

And sometimes, it might even come down to the fact that a person was just not meant for that subject.

A college education is a choice and professors need to work to not cheating their students looking for a challenge.