Top 10 Things Colleges Don’t Offer (But Totally Should)
Top 10 Things Colleges Don’t Offer (But Totally Should)
Let’s be honest: college is great for theory, tradition, and the occasional caffeine-fueled epiphany. But when it comes to preparing students for real life—the kind with bills, breakdowns, and bureaucratic chaos—higher education often misses the mark.
Sure, some of these topics technically exist in certain departments. You might find budgeting buried in a business elective, or voting discussed in a political science lecture. But that’s not the point. These skills deserve center stage, not a cameo in a 300-level seminar.
Here’s a breakdown of the things colleges don’t offer—but absolutely should.
Real-World Networking
- How to introduce yourself without sounding rehearsed
- How to follow up without being annoying
- How to build relationships that last beyond LinkedIn connections. Networking isn’t just for business majors—it’s survival in every industry. And no, group projects don’t count.
Mental Health Maintenance
- Daily emotional hygiene
- Burnout recognition and recovery
- How to ask for help before you hit the wall. Colleges offer crisis counseling, which is important. But what about preventative care? Mental health shouldn’t be reactive. It should be part of the curriculum, not just a flyer in the student center.
Financial Survival Skills
- How to read a paycheck
- What “APR” actually means
- How to avoid debt traps and build financial independence. Budgeting, taxes, credit scores, investing—these are life skills, not niche interests. A business class on macroeconomics won’t teach you how to file your taxes or negotiate rent. Let’s get practical.
Digital Privacy and Cybersecurity
- How to protect your identity online
- How to spot phishing scams and fake job offers
- What happens when your info gets leaked—and how to respond In a world where your data is currency, students need to know how to protect themselves. This isn’t just for computer science majors. It’s for everyone with a phone, email, or social media account.
Conflict Resolution and Communication
- Speak up without blowing up
- Navigate difficult conversations
- Resolve issues without ghosting or passive aggression. From roommate drama to workplace tension, students need tools to handle real-life conflict. These are the soft skills that make or break careers—and relationships. Yet most students graduate without ever learning them.
How to Learn (Not Just Memorize)
- Study strategies that actually work
- How to retain info long-term
- How to adapt when your brain hits a wall. College teaches content, but rarely teaches learning itself. Metacognition—thinking about how you think—is the secret weapon no one talks about.
Career Reality Check
- What degrees actually lead to employment
- What industries are growing, shrinking, or vanishing
- How to pivot when your major doesn’t match the market. Forget dream jobs. Let’s talk about what’s real. Career services often sugarcoat the truth. Students deserve transparency, not just optimism.
Civic Literacy and Voting Power
- How to read a ballot
- What local elections actually impact
- How to register, vote, and stay informed without drowning in misinformation. Political science classes might cover theory, but students need practical civic engagement. Civic literacy isn’t just patriotic—it’s practical. And it’s shockingly under-taught.
Life Admin Bootcamp
- How to rent an apartment
- How to buy insurance
- How to register a car, change your address, or deal with bureaucracy: The stuff no one warns you about until it’s too late. It’s not glamorous, but it’s essential. Adulting shouldn’t feel like a scavenger hunt.
Failure and Resilience Training
- How to bounce back from rejection
- How to reframe mistakes as growth
- How to build grit when things fall apart. This might be the most important one of all. College often rewards perfection. But life rewards persistence. Students need to learn how to fail forward.
Yes, some of these ideas exist somewhere in the curriculum. But they’re scattered, optional, or buried under jargon. What students need is a core curriculum for life—one that treats emotional intelligence, financial literacy, and civic engagement as seriously as calculus or Shakespeare.
Because let’s face it: knowing how to write a thesis is great. But knowing how to survive, thrive, and connect in the real world? That’s the education we’re still waiting for.
-Jay Katz