The Benefits Of A Small Liberal Arts College
Liberal arts colleges are popular in the U.S. for providing high-quality undergraduate education and for producing some of America’s top postgraduate students and leaders in the fields of education, government, business, industry and the arts. These colleges have several key features that make them stand out from other colleges and universities.
A liberal arts college is small which translates to small classes and faculty-to-student ratios of one to 8-15 range. Student bodies here range from only 300 to two thousand.
The quality of teaching is high due to a number of factors. With smaller classes, the teachers have more time to mentor individual students and grade their term papers. Faculty members often have more teaching and student advising loads and are expected to put more focus on the introductory and advanced undergraduate level. There’s less pressure, too, for faculty to accommodate large research contracts which usually distracts their attention from teaching undergraduates.
Students in a small liberal arts college enjoy face-to-face interaction with their teachers who know them by name and not just their ID numbers. They gain the full benefits of a professor who cares about their ideas, interests and their work. Undergraduate students also get to be involved in research programs which is not often done in large universities. They are also encouraged to engage in debate which helps them dig deeper into concepts and improve their communication skills. And with a small population, students develop a strong bond in this type of school.
Education from a liberal arts college covers a wide range of fields from the arts and humanities to the social and applied sciences that prepare students for various occupations. Students are trained in critical thinking, reasoning, communication and quantitative skills instead of narrow technical and professional fields. Mastering more than one discipline enhances the mind’s flexibility and promotes a well-rounded individual.
Although only a few liberal arts colleges have engineering or business departments, most offer computer science and IT courses nowadays. Many of these colleges remain strong in the field of natural sciences with a good number of their graduates proceeding to medical school or science doctoral programs.
Liberal arts colleges provide a balance of challenge, support and freedom that is so much like parenting. Individual students are nurtured well by their teachers and exposed to new and different ideas and experiences with trust that they will eventually reach their goals. The opportunity to explore a variety of fields is meant to develop their flexibility especially as they are expected to change careers in the future. Experts believe students will shift from one career to another at least eight times while working.