Summertime for students can mean one of many things: a time to get a job and make money to pay for your next year of school, or in some cases, time to complete the required internships that many university programs require before graduation.

One of my roommates is studying Advertising here at Iowa State and got a summer job in that field. At the beginning of last week, I found it very amusing when he came home from work stupefied that he had learned more about advertising in eight hours on the job than two years of classes had ever taught him.

Myself, I am also working at a summer internship in the News Department of the Ames’ radio stations KCCQ 105, and KASI 1430. Like my roommate, I have learned more in the past week about broadcast news than my many years of university classes have been able to teach me. Under the watchful eyes of Trent Rice and B.J. Shaven, the news gurus at KCCQ, I have learned about the technical side of radio-news, writing for radio-news, and other important aspects of my future profession.

Therefore, the question is why am I spending so much time and even more money on a university education that is not teaching me the skills required to compete in my field? Simply put, I need a minimum of an undergraduate degree to even be considered for a job.

The reason that a university education takes as long as it does is because of problems rooted in the elementary and high school education systems.

In a recent article in USA Today it was reported that “64% of the freshmen entering the California college system failed the entry-level math test, and 43% failed the verbal exam, even though all of these students were in the top third of their high school graduating classes.”

It is appalling that the students entering universities do not have the ability to compete at this higher education level. Because incoming students are not at the prescribed university level, all freshmen have to take remedial education courses to bring them up to speed.

I would say, and I think that many would agree, the first three or four semesters at a university are filled with courses that have small bearing on the future professions of the student. They are filled with language and social sciences that do little more than take up time and money — courses that are intent on increasing our social awareness and “making us better people.” Furthermore, at Iowa State, English 104 and 105 are remedial writing classes that are mandatory for all students to take.

If the elementary and high school education systems taught the curriculum that students require for future education, then students would not be forced to take these remedial classes. Therefore, it would save the students a lot of money.

For lack of sounding like a ranting conspiracy theorist fighting the oppression of Big Brother, maybe there are other reasons for keeping students in universities longer.

Preventing students from entering the work force keeps many baby-boomers in their jobs instead of collecting social security checks, from a program who’s days are seriously numbered.

Or maybe university education is more about the life experiences and personal maturity issues rather than the applicable professional value of the education.

And, I am sure that states enjoy the income they receive from loans and tuition so many students attending college for four and five years pay.

The possibilities are endless, but regardless of what you believe, completing a university degree should not take as long as it does.

In other countries, like Canada and England, you can complete a bachelor’s degree in three years, yet in America it takes a minimum of four years.

Like many students this summer I will spend my time getting an education that does not come from overpriced text books and from attending long and sometimes boring lectures. My education will be in the mythical “real world” that students often only hear of from teachers and parents.

But, the final kick in the pants comes from the fact that in addition to paying my tuition all year long, in the summer when I work at an internship, I have to pay the university. I give money to the university to work for someone else. Seeing as media internships are unpaid, I am really getting the short end of the stick.

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Marty Forth is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Ottawa, Canada