The State University of New York System recently gave its students another unfunded mandate. The state's 64 SUNY schools will require freshmen students to take a "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice" course beginning this fall.

The schools will have a list of approved courses students can take to meet the requirement. According to a sample rubric , students taking these courses should learn to "describe the historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class, and gender"; "analyze the role that complex networks of social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity"; and "apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to past, current, or future social justice action."

This terrible policy exemplifies the problem with higher education. A class meeting some arbitrary diversity, equity, and inclusion requirement does not help students gain the knowledge they need to work in their desired field. If someone goes to school for nursing, they should take courses related to nursing and the skills they need to become a nurse. Taking an ethnic studies or gender studies course does nothing to help teach someone how to check a patient's blood pressure (and neither will the DEI courses serve a character-forming purpose like the liberal arts.)

A blanket DEI requirement is another example of colleges requiring students to buy more education than they need to obtain a degree. Schools do this by forcing students to take classes that have nothing to do with their major. These typically fall into two categories: general education requirements and electives used to hit the credit requirement to obtain a degree. For private, for-profit schools, this serves as a way to increase profitability.

At SUNY Purchase, a three-credit class this school year costs $1,123 for in-state undergraduate students, while out-of-state students pay $2,362. Therefore, prospective students and the public should wonder: Are the time and money necessary to complete some arbitrary requirement worth it?

Colleges should find ways to cut waste in the education system to reduce costs and make earning a degree more efficient. SUNY, unfortunately, is doing the opposite. At a time when people carry about $2 trillion in student loan debt, it is a disgraceful decision.

Schools should reduce expenses in areas such as bloated administrative and DEI staff , athletics , and construction to ensure students can receive an affordable education. They should also offer three-year bachelor’s degrees that do not require people to take irrelevant classes. If they did this, colleges would be less woke and more affordable. That would be a win-win for students.

Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.