What’s so special about US liberal arts education?

By Dr. Pareena G. Lawrence

Dean of the College and Professor of Economics and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Augustana College in Rock Island Illinois: Imagine a college education where you do not have to declare the field you are planning to study before you start college, or even a few years before college, like after the tenth standard! An education where you can pursue your passion in the field of international business and the study of the Chinese or German language and culture.

Where your love for philosophy does not have to be sacrificed at the altar of pre-med, biology or a neuroscience major. Welcome to a liberal arts education in the United States of America! Who knew that one had the luxury of pursuing such an education in today’s world, which stresses specialisation and a narrow focus of study at an early age.

I grew up in India and studied under the ICSE system, whereby I had to choose between the study of Arts and Sciences after my tenth grade exams. In eleventh grade I had to decide if I wanted to pursue the physical sciences (engineering) or the natural sciences (medicine). My inability to pass the medical entrance exam on my first try and my exam scores in twelfth grade sealed my fate and I became a biology major in college, even though I had no deep burning interest in studying the natural sciences.

This is what we did in the mid 80s in India. I wish I had had choices. I wish we were allowed to discover our passion and calling and then the opportunity to pursue them. While I did not have such opportunities for myself as an undergraduate student, once I came to the United States to pursue a Ph.D., I discovered an undergraduate education system that offers precisely what thousands of my classmates back in India and I were looking for two decades ago as undergraduate students.

I know many of you who are 16-18 years old also will benefit from such an education and curriculum. This education, unique to the United States, is called a liberal arts education. As the Dean of the College at Augustana College in the state of Illinois, I have the distinct privilege of leading the academic programs at this premier liberal arts institution.

A college should prepare students for a career, but a liberal arts college has a much bigger charge. We play a critical role in the lives of our students by helping them recognise the importance of being intellectually curious and asking big questions, and in shaping their lives to be meaningful and productive not only for them as individuals, but also for the larger society. We help shape the next generation of leaders, thinkers, problem solvers and citizens who can conduct themselves ethically and express themselves civilly; who know how to reason and not rationalise; who are analytical in their approach and understand the virtue of personal and social responsibility. We teach them to ponder issues that will not only impact our nation, but are truly global in nature.

A rigorous, well-designed curriculum both in the core liberal arts curriculum and the major, along with the many experiential learning opportunities such as community volunteerism, service learning, study abroad, research with faculty, and internships. These are all ways in which we integrate curricular and co-curricular learning at Augustana College so that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

A liberal arts education tradition is even more important today, as the world rapidly changes and becomes increasingly interconnected. Knowledge of another language, human culture, the physical and natural world, critical inquiry and communication skills are vital in today’s economy. Students with a strong foundation in the liberal arts also have the opportunity to develop and refine their professional credentials at Augustana College as they can major in such areas as business administration, multimedia journalism, pre-med, graphic design and accounting.

Augustana College prepares students to be thoughtful collaborative leaders and responsible global citizens. Students graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in only four years. More than 40% of our students go on to attend graduate school within one year of graduation, while the remainder enter their professions.