American Colleges - Fleecing America

As many of you know, the Queenager has flown the nest for college. I happen to be  researching colleges for another project at the moment, so I'm currently quite well versed in all things college. Well, for a foreigner anyway. And I'm shocked, quite frankly. For a people that decries too much government interference, Americans seem only too happy to let colleges and universities call the shots.

At almost 19, and despite the fact that she knows she wants to major in Journalism, and has already scored a much-coveted place in the Journalism School, my daughter is still deemed unfit to pick her own classes.  As her funding mechanism,  we are therefore paying (through the nose, I might add) for courses she's not interested in and will probably never use. They're called pre-requisites and core courses, and most colleges do this. Before the Q can take any Journalism courses, she has to complete her pre-reqs (some of which are relevant to Journalism) and core courses, like math(s) and biology. OK, I get that many kids don't know what they want to do, and others change their minds before declaring their majors, so they benefit from a variety of classes. But my daughter has effectively declared her major, and even if she changes her mind, she probably won't jump to neuro-surgery or aeronautical engineering.  Even if she does, isn't that her/our business? She's 19 for crying out loud. She's old enough to do everything other than drink alcohol (and don't even get me started on that one),-  she can be tried as an adult, she has the right to vote, she can die for her country. She just can't choose what to study, even when her parents are paying? Really America?But I get it. Without those pesky pre-requisites (many of which she has studied at high school, BTDubs), she could probably graduate in three years. Heaven forbid that universities might have to fore-go a year's tuition!Aah. - It all makes sense now.