Are We Losing Our Liberal Arts Colleges? (original) (raw)

The Curriculum of Liberal Arts Colleges: Beyond the Major

This study examined the formal curricula of 82 liberal arts institutions as described in college catalogs. These institutions included both Liberal Arts I (LAI) and Liberal Arts II (LAII) schools in the 1994 Carnegie classifications. Two recent studies have contended that many institutions identifying themselves as liberal arts colleges are really not. This contention has been based on the percentage of graduates in professional majors. Attention in this study was placed on relating the course descriptions to six attributes of the liberal arts curriculum, identified in the literature and through the comments of chief executive officers of liberal arts institutions. Findings indicate that professional majors dominate LAII institutions, However, the general education program at both LAI and LAII institutions appears to be the primary means of accomplishing attributes related to the formal curriculum of a liberal arts college. (Contains 35 references.) (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Liberal Arts Colleges: An Overlooked Opportunity?

Notices of the American Mathematical Society

This is a full-time position at the AMS offi ce in Washington, DC. The initial appointment will be for three to fi ve years, with possible renewal, and will commence in late 2016. The starting date and length of term are negotiable. Applications are welcome from individuals taking leaves of absence from another position. Salary is negotiable and will be commensurate with experience.

Distinctively American: The Residential Liberal Arts Colleges

Social Science Journal, 2002

compile 15 articles primarily written by men and women engaged in liberal arts colleges as administrators, trustees, professors, former students, or chaplains. Inspite of their direct connections with and, often, professed allegiances to small, liberal arts colleges (SLACs), the contributors to this volume present a very clear, detailed, and honest portrait of many aspects of the past, present, and anticipated future of these schools. The articles, originally written by the various authors for different occasions, avoid the romanticized, sentimental presentations that they might have been. Instead, they both deconstruct and reconstruct the ideology about and reality of the SLACs.

The Transformation of Private Liberal Arts Colleges

The Review of Higher Education, 1991

Private liberal arts colleges in the United States enter the 1990s in a stronger position, both financially and academically, than all but the most optimistic forecasters predicted a decade ago. Given the de mographic trends evident in the early 1980s, most experts thought private liberal arts colleges, many of which were already financially troubled after decades of competition from expanding state systems of public higher education, would be fatally vulnerable to enroll ment declines and financial crises. Surprisingly, few private liberal arts colleges actually closed. Furthermore, as a group, they now appear stronger financially and academically than at any time in the past three decades. What happened to change this dark prognosis? Is the current situation just a lull in a bleak situation or a permanent change in the liberal arts colleges themselves? This paper examines five private liberal arts colleges and finds there both evidence of and models for permanent transformation.

Liberal Arts Colleges and Good Practices in Undergraduate Education: Additional Evidence

Journal of College Student Development, 2010

Liberal arts colleges have prided themselves on providing students with a quality undergraduate education among a scholarly community who are interested in their holistic development. Past research has found students who attended liberal arts colleges more frequently experienced Gamson's (1987, 1991) good practices in undergraduate education than their peers. This study examined if this experience differed based on students' background or precollege char ac teristics. Overall, we found students at liberal arts colleges who enter college with lower levels of parental education, tested precollege academic preparation, academic motivation, and high school involvement experienced these good practices at levels greater than their peers.

A Historical and Global Perspective on Liberal Arts Education: What Was, What Is, and What Will Be

Godwin, K. A. & Altbach, P. G. (2016). International Journal of Chinese Education, 5, p. 5-22.

Debates about higher education’s purpose have long been polarized between specialized preparation for specific vocations and a broad, general knowledge foundation known as liberal education. Excluding the United States, specialized curricula have been the dominant global norm. Yet, quite surprisingly given this enduring trend, liberal education has new salience in higher education worldwide. This discussion presents liberal education’s non-Western, Western, and U.S. historical roots as a backdrop for discussing its contemporary global resurgence. Analysis from the Global Liberal Education Inventory provides an overview of liberal education’s renewed presence in each of the regions and speculation about its future development.