A “General Studies” degree is essentially not having a major at all. This raises an interesting question: Does it any longer make sense to require a major? For vocational tracks like engineering, nursing, accountancy, etc., obviously declaration of the major is entailed, but should it be otherwise?
Since colleges have gotten underway substantially in the last 100 years, the bar has been massively raised for the amount of education to have to be “successful.” A hundred years ago post-secondary education was pretty much just vocational. College degrees weren’t expected even in administrative jobs. (Eleven US Presidents did not have degrees - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States_by_education.)
Now we have jobs that require a college degree, but either don’t specify a major or will accept a wide variety of majors. In this “new” environment, it arguably makes no more sense to demand a major declaration of an undergrad than to demand one of a high school student.
Not only have we not adjusted to the new environment in that way, but the majors being offered do not align with the needs of those employers who seek college-educated employees, but do not require them to function as economists, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, historians or linguists. It’s better that the employee just know something about each of these. If someone wants to be employable and does have broad interests, why force them into specialization (and the consumption of resources better deployed) which neither they nor the people they will work for want?
This situation can and should improve. Colleges/universities can and should better match their requirements to the needs of employers and the actual wants of students and the taxpayers and parents who are footing the bill.