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Michael J. Cripps, a professor of rhetoric and composition, directs the School of Arts and Humanities at the University of New England. The ideas expressed in this opinion are his alone and do not represent those of his employer.
It’s that time. High school seniors considering a major in the liberal arts confront a (false) choice between passion and practicality. This choice endures for at least two reasons. First, the liberal arts are largely misunderstood. Second, too little is known about the ways that liberal arts programs meet the call for practical skills. As young people and their parents weigh the options when it comes to college, I encourage them not to accept uncritically what is said or written about the liberal arts.
The liberal arts — Ars Liberalis in Latin — is an ancient term for a program of study that translates roughly to practical knowledge (ars) required of free individuals (liberalis). Pause on that meaning: practical knowledge that enables one to exercise freedom. The liberal arts bear almost no relation to the meaning of liberal today, which helps explain why conservative leaders like Vice President-elect JD Vance, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pursued liberal arts degrees.
From the left to the right, the children of the elite generally study the liberal arts. But we are often too quick to dismiss the study of the liberal arts as a waste of resources when talking with first-generation college students and the children of middle-class families.
What are the liberal arts? The disciplines of the liberal arts have (thankfully) evolved since the Roman Republic. Many in higher education define the liberal arts inclusively: history and philosophy, anthropology and psychology, science and mathematics, and the arts and literature. Attend an elite liberal arts college — or almost any college or university — and one may study these disciplines. Still, we get lost when discussing college majors with parents and young people trying to navigate the options.
The confusion comes, in part, from the emergence of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), which is sometimes set against the liberal arts. By pitting STEM against other courses of study and defining the former as practical and remunerative, we risk concluding that non-STEM disciplines do not cultivate in-demand skills or yield rewarding careers.
How do non-STEM majors prepare students to compete in tomorrow’s economy? The traditional answer rests on an updated version of the Roman Trivium of grammar, logic and rhetoric: careful reading, strong writing and critical thinking. A liberal arts education does build these enduring, highly transferable skills. But I think educators owe it to families to provide more concrete answers.
My institution, the University of New England, educates more health professionals than any school in Maine. Less well known are our programs in the non-STEM liberal arts, where we have a record of aligning traditional liberal arts disciplines with career readiness. How do we prepare students in our non-STEM liberal arts programs for rewarding careers?
We engage students in active learning, collaborative work and projects. Our students bring ideas to class and practice deliberation. Students get involved in community-connected projects. From podcasts and video projects to digital portfolios, we engage students in new media and encourage reflection on learning. Our arts and humanities programs have robust ties to internship sites, enabling students to apply classroom learning to job sites and build networks before graduation.
Zippia ranks the University of New England at the top of Maine schools when it comes to graduates securing jobs, and the Brookings Institution ranks us first in Maine when it comes to boosting career earnings. We know something about career readiness.
The elites recognize that a liberal arts education consistently delivers broad-based skills, a solid understanding of our place in history and society, and the ability to converse intelligently about culture, economics and policy. Our country’s most selective liberal arts institutions regularly fill classes with their children. So let’s not dismiss the value of liberal arts programs of study when talking with middle-class and first-generation high schoolers by claiming that studying what they love will leave them struggling to find a meaningful career.
