If you could mandate one existing academic course that all college students would have to take, what would it be and why?

An introductory course on probability and statistics. I attended an industry panel and someone asked the panelists to recommend one class that all graduating seniors should take. They all unanimously said probability and statistics for two reasons: 1) the ability to handle large data sets and draw useful conclusions from them is highly valued regardless of where one ends up working, and 2) probabilistic thinking helps one make better decisions in general.

Personal Finance After you graduate from college and start your first real job, you are thrown into this new independent world that no one prepares you for with an owner's manual (renting or buying an apartment/condo, buying a car, paying for groceries, phone bill, cable, water, electricity, etc.). Many young people are used to having their parents take care of everything, so it could be a rude awakening to have to learn on your own how to manage your finances. Credit card companies are like sharks and they love to prey on people, especially young people in their late teens and 20's, and the temptations can be very hard to resist if you are not fully aware of the consequences. Also, I mentioned "personal" finance because it should really just stick to the bare bone basics.... How to balance a check book How to set up a budget and strategies to help stay within your monthly limit How to start saving money How to plan for repayment of student loans What is a credit score and why is it important? What to know about buying your first car (What is APR? What can I afford?) What to know about buying your first home (What is a mortgage? How much down payment is needed?) How to avoid getting into credit card debt

Public speaking Most people simply just don't have the skill and confidence it takes to talk to others, especially in front of groups. Public speaking courses help people learn how to simply just talk to large groups of people. Benefits of this are increased interpersonal skills and an overall greater presence when around people. Not enough people in the world have great interpersonal skills, and it's something that hurts those people a lot.

Logic/Critical Thinking People underestimate the importance of scientifically proven logical principles.  The entire field revolves around teaching people how to think.  If one learns how to adeptly apply logic and reason to their thinking processes, it will benefit all of their other academic (and personal) ventures.

Introduction to modern science.  The fact that so many people don't get basic principles like evolution and atomic theory or are easily fooled by homeopathy/naturophathy tells me that we don't make modern science accessible enough.  Maybe a whole semester devoted to critical thinking would be best.  You could have logic, ethics, science and media literacy presented in an intensive and coherent way to really help students learn to think and solve problems.

English. Straight unadulterated in your face english. I think it will only help you communicate in the 21st century with the use of social media, the internet, and your own situations and issues. Yup, English.

Finding, Filtering and Evaulting: Learning About Anything Online and Offline Learning how to find, connect and interview experts Finding and participating in communities of practice Developing personal learning networks Searching and filtering the real time web, search engines and historical databases like libraries Foster a culture of lifelong learning Come on, let's get 21st century here. Communications/English, Personal Finance and Internships/Slave labour/Opportunity have been essential parts of specific and diverse educational offerings for a long time. Students need to learn how to teach themselves! It's THE essential skill for the 21st century. Lifelong learning is THE missing  in theme in education today and for good reason it eats away at established norms of paying ridiculous amounts of money for inferior, dated and often totally useless education. Not all traditional education is useless but far too much is.

Ethics.  Not so much the history of Ethics although it is an interesting subject, but Ethics in modern life.  A course that helps students think about what is "right" in everyday situations and then is willing to come to a decision, even if it is a hard one.  We don't live in an ethical society (my belief after 71 years of life) and I believe the majority of people behave unethically because they simply don't think about it - not because they are deliberately trying to act in an unethical manner.

Entrepreneurship 101 Every college student should take a couple of entrepreneurship classes.  You have to expect that at some point in your life you will either be out of a job, or you will have the urge to quit working for "the man" and launch your own business.  With unemployment at 9.1% you might not even be able to find a job right after graduation, so having an understanding of what it takes to start and operate a business will be valuable to every student.  There are a handful of universities that are now implementing Cross Campus Entrepreneurship Initiatives including: Marquette University - http://business.marquette.edu/centers-and-programs/kcfe-ccetf Indiana University - http://kelley.iu.edu/JCEI/Initiatives/page8144.html University of Colorado - http://leeds.colorado.edu/certificate/ccec#overviewandrequirements