The Benefits of a Liberal Arts & Sciences Education

The Liberal Arts and Sciences Education T r a d i t i o n

Liberal arts and sciences education has its roots in the founding of the nation’s first colleges in the 17th century…and yet this model of active engagement and comprehensive study remains the most effective means to prepare students for the complicated world in which we live today.

Students at our colleges and universities receive personalized attention from professors who love to teach. They learn how to think critically and creatively. They learn leadership skills. They study many different subject areas, and they practice their skills through real-world project opportunities that develop an ability to work on cross-functional teams to solve problems. Our schools produce transformational thinkers – graduates equipped not only with functional expertise, but with a critical, diverse perspective that enables them to connect the dots and create vision out of complexity, to innovate and lead.

 

Why Does a Liberal Arts and Sciences Education Matter?

A b o u t 3% of American c ollege graduates attended a liberal arts college or university , yet liberal arts alumni accounted for:

  • 19% of US presidents
  • Nearly 20% of Pulitzers Prize winners in drama, history and poetry, from 1960 to 1998
  • 8% of Pulitzer Prize winners in biography and 6% in fiction, from 1960 to 1998
  • 9% of Fulbright Scholars
  • 24% of Mellon fellowships in the humanities
  • 8% of former Peace Corps volunteers
  • 20% of Phi Beta Kappa inductions made between 1995 and 1997
  • Twice as many doctorates in science as other institutions, on a per capita basis
  • 1 in 12 of the nation’s wealthiest CEOs listed in 1998 in Forbes magazine

 
“I equate a sound liberal arts education with success in the workplace.  Teamwork and collaboration, which I view as the two essential tenets of a positive work environment, are skills I first learned on a small college campus.  As a graduate of Aquinas College, my own experience has taught me that one never stops learning – but the foundation a MCF college gives you is knowing how to ask the right questions, and how to turn the answers into opportunities.”
Denise Christy
President Humana Michigan and Indiana