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Do you want a college experience where you are given the freedom to explore whatever academic areas pique your interest?
Studying the liberal arts can prepare students to be critical thinkers and persuasive communicators. Instead of training students for a specific path into the job market, a liberal arts education is designed to get graduates ready to succeed in a variety of careers.
It is difficult to summarize the typical experience in a field that consists of dozens of academic fields, ranging from physics to philosophy. But in general, the undergraduate education is the star of the show at liberal arts colleges. Translation: You can expect small classes taught by professors, not assistants, and plenty of opportunities for personalized attention on everything from research projects to letters of recommendation.
Despite persistent skepticism about the financial value of a liberal arts degree, several studies have found that a liberal arts education offers a solid return on investment. An analysis, by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, found that the median return on investment for the 200-plus liberal arts colleges in the United States was nearly $200,000 more than the median for all colleges. (ROI was measured as career earnings after deducting the cost of attending college.)
However, the cost and pay of liberal arts colleges vary widely. To help students find a campus where they can explore the arts and humanities while receiving a high-quality education, we’ve pulled out the top-scoring liberal arts schools in Money’s latest college rankings, which rank quality, affordability and Results of more have analyzed. than 600 four-year colleges.
We began with institutions that the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education defined as baccalaureate colleges with an arts and sciences focus. Then we ranked the schools based on what proportion of their recent graduates earned a liberal arts degree and how they scored on our overall analysis of affordability and outcomes.
Read on to see the top 10, then check out the full list of the 50 Best Liberal Arts Colleges here.
