Liberal Arts Colleges

Liberal arts colleges offer a unique and extraordinary type of undergraduate education that many students should consider. This blog post will paint an overview of what education is like at a liberal arts college as well as dispel some common misconceptions. 

Here are a few typical characteristics of liberal arts colleges:

• Size: They’re usually quite small. For example, Williams College only has about 2,000 students. For some, this isn’t what they’re looking for. But many students benefit from being in a smaller community and the individualized attention from professors that comes along with it.
• Lack of Graduate Programs: At most schools, there will be undergraduate students and also graduate students who are working on master’s degrees, PhD’s, law degrees, medical degrees, etc. At most liberal arts colleges, there are no graduate programs, meaning that the university is composed entirely of undergraduate students. Some people see this as a big advantage, as professors are not splitting their time between undergraduate and graduate students. 
• Emphasis on Teaching: Professors are primarily there to teach and supervise. Most of them do research as well, but that’s not their primary job. At larger research institutes such as UC campuses, for example, professors of course teach, but research is often their primary focus.  

Here are some examples of liberal arts colleges:

• Reed College
• Pomona College
• Swarthmore College
• Williams College
• Sarah Lawrence College
• Harvey Mudd

Some Common Misconceptions

Some people think that you can only study liberal arts subjects at liberal arts colleges. In reality, most liberal arts colleges offer a variety of STEM degrees and some liberal arts colleges like Harvey Mudd College even have top-ranked STEM programs. 

To many, liberal arts colleges lack the name brand recognition of, say, UCs or Stanford or USC. Thus, there’s often a worry that students who attend liberal arts colleges will struggle to find jobs or gain acceptances at graduate programs after college. This is thankfully not true. In fact, liberal arts colleges such as Harvey Mudd, Williams, Amherst, and Smarthmore have as much name brand recognition as any other university. Many employers actively recruit from liberal arts colleges because of how esteemed their academic programs are. 

Lastly, there’s the question of research opportunities, especially for STEM students. The worry is that, because liberal arts colleges are not dedicated research institutes, they therefore fall short in the research department. There’s likely some truth to this in the sense that, if you’re looking for some sort of cutting-edge research lab, you may be hard-pressed to find one at a liberal arts college. But of course, working in a lab or some other kind of research center is just one kind of research. There are also literature reviews, deep investigations into whatever topics pique your interest, and many other forms of research. Students can still pursue these at liberal arts colleges and are in a great position to do so, given the availability of professors.

Like anything, a liberal arts college isn’t for everyone. But I always recommended investigating one or two to see if they’re up your alley. They really do have a lot to offer!