MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Silly, blow-off college courses – such as “underwater basket weaving” – have been around for decades, mostly because they offer university students a break from the stress and strain of serious classes, as well as an easy way to boost their GPA.

The ridiculous nature of such classes used to elicit laughs from most people, but that might be changing.

An example of that changing attitude comes from Michigan, where a watchdog group is questioning why taxpayers are helping subsidize a new state university class that examines the concept of apocalypse through ancient literature and silly pop culture sources.

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The class in question is called “From Revelation to the ‘Walking Dead,’” and it’s being offered at Central Michigan University by religion and philosophy professor Kelly Murphy, reports HuffingtonPost.com.

Students in Murphy’s course will consider the apocalypse as it’s presented in the Bible, the popular novel “World War Z,” and clips from various zombie movies such as “28 Days Later” and “Shaun of the Dead,” WatchDogWire.com reports.

Izzy Lyman, a contributor to the news site, writes:

“Seriously, while this form of ‘intellectual’ esotericism may be entertaining, it isn’t cheap, especially for students who elect to pay for their college education with federal student loans and find themselves, upon graduation, saddled with the accompanying high interest rates.

“And why should taxpayers, who pay the generous salaries of quirky Mount Pleasant academics, have to fund that which never leads students to obtain marketable skills? If Michiganders are to be coerced into financing higher education, wouldn’t it be preferable to have their money go toward those teaching more substantial material, like biomedical engineering courses or gerontological nurse practitioner classes?”

Those are great questions. Central Michigan University leaders will never address those concerns, of course, mostly because they’re so insulated from reality that they’ll never be asked about them.

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Fortunately, an increasing number of Americans are beginning to ask such questions. Many are even questioning whether a modern college degree is worth the cost.

It’s becoming obvious that many colleges and universities are simply Big Businesses that primarily care about separating students and their parents from their money. They’ve been allowed to get away with this nonsense because schools have drilled the mistaken notion into American kids’ heads that they must go to college if they are to succeed in life. And the federal government has financed this boondoggle by making student loans far too easy to obtain.

We’re glad to see the some average Americans are beginning to hold those in charge of our Ivory Towers accountable for the product they’re offering to students.