FIND THOSE GAINS FROM TRADE. Yesterday, I linked to K. C. Johnson taking on the American Association of Colleges and Universities for taking on the American Council of Trustees and Alumni for emphasizing the liberal arts rather than career preparation and diversity awareness. Now comes the Council, elaborating on some of the state university systems that earned high marks while working with the Association. First, Tennessee.

It is Tennessee State, not Vanderbilt, that requires a college-level math class of all students, as well as survey classes in literature and US history. Thus, it is Tennessee State, not Vanderbilt, that gets an "A" grade in our report.

Credit for that "A" goes to the Tennessee State faculty and administration for holding their students to high standards. A big assist, though, goes to the State's Board of Regents. The Board created core curriculum standards that apply to all of the schools they govern. The result: the five Board of Regents schools (East Tennessee, Middle Tennessee, Memphis and Austin Peay are the others) earn two "A"s and three "B"s. Of the seven requirements ACTA looked for in the study, the Tennessee Board of Regents schools required an average of 5.4, compared to 3.3 at Tennessee's other institutions.

Furthermore, since the Board of Regents requires a similar general education core at the thirteen community colleges it oversees, they have streamlined transfers between the system's two- and-four year schools. Effective, efficient core curricula improve educational quality while lowering cost of instruction. The basic general education core that every student needs can be delivered much more cost effectively than the array of boutique courses so often offered in lieu of a well-defined core.

Cheaper, more effective, and fostering competitiveness to boot!

As Charles Manning, Chancellor of the Tennessee Board of Regents System, explained to us: "I have worked hard, along with my colleagues, to ensure every graduate of our universities receives a solid general education. A strong core curriculum has been important in every generation, but in today's environment of global competition, it has never been more vital."

I'll leave the misconception about competitiveness in a global economy for another time. Human capital is human capital.

Next, California.

WhatWillTheyLearn.com shows that it's often the most prestigious colleges that do the poorest job of providing a broad-based general education core. For an example, consider the contrast between the famous University of California system and blue-collar Cal State.

While most Cal State schools earn a "B," none of the ten UC schools earn higher than a "C" -- and five earn an "F." Every CSU school requires a college-level science class, and 75% require college-level work in math. In contrast, only four of the ten UC schools require science and only two require math.

The less-highly-regarded universities are in the same business as the more-highly-regarded competitors and ought to act accordingly.

The economy of the last few years has encouraged a lot of consumers to bypass expensive brand names in favor of cheaper, but just as good, generics. The customers of California's higher education might want to join that trend.

Implicitly: the generics have to be just as good. The beginning of wisdom for the Association is to recognize as much, and end its complicity in keeping the poor poor.