A Liberal Arts Education

– Mackenzie Durdak (Defiance, OH)

Liberal arts education roughly translates into free thinking education. Defiance College is considered a liberal arts college because here students are encouraged to broaden their thinking and explore new aspects of life.

According to Tim Rickabaugh, Defiance College’s interim academic dean, “Liberal Arts is a thoughtful educational curriculum designed to produce broad-minded thinkers that can approach our world, and its issues, from a variety of perspectives.”

By thinking more broadly and considering things from multiple perspectives, students in this generation can begin making more changes in the world. Students can take classes outside of their major and develop more marketable skills future employers will like.

Lisa Crumit-Hancock, director of SASS, tells us her opinion of Liberal Arts degrees and how they relate to getting jobs in the future.“I would encourage all students to choose to learn in a liberal arts setting because not only will you develop a breadth of knowledge but you will develop transferable skills.  These are skills in critical thinking, communication, and collaborating.”

By transferring the skills you learn in college to your future job, better opportunities may present themselves.  The broadness of this type of education means that if there are no jobs at the time in your field, the skills you learn here will allow you to get a job outside of your specific degree. Not only will these skills better you in your search for a job one day, it will also allow you to become a more reputable person in society.

In the past, liberal arts meant strictly arts and humanities but now liberal arts education has expanded to include different majors from histories to arts to maths, sciences, and social sciences. The list of degrees, however, can go on and on, which only further prove the benefits of receiving a liberal arts degree. Any person can major in a liberal arts degree because there is no criteria or standard for them. With more people gaining them, the chance for improvement in this world helps to transform it into a better safer place. These schools are also becoming easier to get into.

Most liberal arts schools are private colleges. These institutions typically run off of private donations more so than public colleges and universities so their students are offered more scholarships than a public school. For many students, money is a determining factor in the college they choose. Because of these increased scholarship opportunities, more students can go to these liberal art schools without having to worry about cost.
Although the nation seems to be placing an increased emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics programs (STEM), the experience of a liberal arts school is still considered one of the most effective means of becoming a truly holistic professional, academic, and individual.