University Courses

University course choices are changing and have been for about the past 50 years. No longer are the traditional non-vocational subjects at the forefront of choice for university courses. These are being overtaken by the big money spinners and interestingly enough, the arts.

The Most Popular

Mathematical sciences recorded the biggest percentage increase between 2006 and 2010, an increase of 26.3%. Meanwhile business, administrative studies, mass communication and documentation, and engineering and technology saw the biggest rises after mathematical sciences for full-time undergraduate students. For post-graduates, architecture, building and planning, and mass communications and documentation reported over 20% increases in subject selection by students in 2010.

These figures represent a significant change in just five years. In 2005/06 surveys, law was at number one for student university course choice. Presumably for the excellent return on student investment of a lawyer’s salary. Close behind at number two was design studies offering creative excitement and vocational opportunities and in third place was psychology. Medicine, sports, science and social studies were the next three most popular university courses in 06, all offering clear post-graduation career paths.

Business, management and computer studies were lagging slightly back in 2006 but today as you can see, these university courses are topping the charts. Medicine related fields too have seen resurgence in the past few years.

These are in contrast to the top 10 university courses based upon HESA student data (number of students) for undergraduates for 2009/10:

• Business & administrative studies   177,285
• Subjects allied to medicine 148,770
• Creative arts & design 140,615
• Biological sciences 122,370
• Social studies 122,050
• Engineering & technology 89,480
• Computer science 58,680
• Law 58,140
• Physical sciences 57,190
• Education 57,060

These are conservative fields but not all students are into education for money and glory. Some students prefer university courses that offer something a little bit different.

Some ‘different’ college and university courses being offered last year included:

The Phallus: The class examined different aspects of the phallus, from an historical context and in relation to race and gender.

The Art of Walking: This class discussed how walking has become a lost mode of transportation in a world full of cars and other means of getting around. Lessons were based on appreciation of beauty and art and how walking relates to them.

Queer Musicology: The graduate course has been going since the late 1990's and is used to teach how music may actually sound different based on sexual preference, both to the composer and to the listener.

Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism: Topics covered in class included deconstructing terrorism to see how and why it happens and understanding "cultural marginalization.” The class examined the process of how different cultural groups are separated from more dominant social groups and how and why they become terrorists.

The Horror Film in Context: The course looked at why society is fascinated horror films and also with death in general. 

The Adultery Novel In and Out of Russia: This course covered 19th and 20th century Russian literature about adultery. Studies of these novels taught students to compare aspects of adultery within the texts alongside the societies that read them.

Maple Syrup: This peculiar class looked into the modern profession of making maple syrup compared to the methods used by the Native Americans.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as weird and wonderful university courses go. There are many more university courses available to those who yearn for something different. As for the mainstream learners, the top university course picks listed above, like law, might be the most lucrative and prestigious today but to keep things interesting you could always mix it up a little bit!