The Liberal Arts Degree is exactly what its name suggests – liberal. It offers a set of versatile and envisioning skills that everyone needs in everyday life. However, it’s often judged because it may be too broad and come with fewer job opportunities compared to other majors. Students who want to study Liberal Arts often get convinced to switch to Business careers by parents due to better career opportunities. In this article, we’ll define what is Liberal Arts degree, and what students can do with it and still get a steady income.
Overview
Liberal arts, often nicknamed as humanity studies focus on a more social aspect of educational programs. It is a selection of comprehensive humanities-related classes. It involves studying history, writing, philosophy, literature, psychology, sociology, creative arts, pedagogy, and other fields. The students enrolling in these studies will be able to formulate formal arguments, enhance their communicative skills and solve various social-related problems. It can involve anything from language studying and theater arts to economics and philosophy. Among the most demanded courses for studying Liberal Arts include English, history, psychology, philosophy and political science.
While liberal arts may be one of the best educational programs, it is often looked down upon. Below, we’ve listed the possible reasons liberal arts are often declined upon, mainly by students’ parents.
Why is the Liberal Arts major often looked down upon?
In the time of economic decline, parents and students alike seek opportunities in the fields where the paycheck is more valued than the rewarding feeling of being knowledgeable in a field that is different. Additionally, college debts are higher than most households can afford. That’s why families often put special emphasis on money-driving disciplines, especially in the STEM field.
Parents talk their children into enrolling in money-driving programs in the deep belief that art and creativity can’t feed them or get them home. However, is that true? Below, we’ve listed what kind of degrees are available to the Liberal Arts students, career options and most notable benefits.
Common courses and subjects in the Liberal Arts education
Both Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts share a fair portion of courses specific for the Liberal Arts program. However, the two programs are different and will both have specific focus characteristics for their direction. Nevertheless, both programs have basic courses like math, fine arts, social science, science, and the English language. Additionally, students may have to take additional courses not exactly focused on their field of expertise.
Still, the liberal arts program boasts plentiful courses for students that will help them seek lucrative careers and find themselves within them. There are a lot of interesting courses, unique and value-driving in their own way. Students may enjoy meeting new art styles, psychology directions, ethics, historical values as well as meet different cultures and learn about them. The possibilities are endless.
Related: 10 Best Online Schools for Bachelor’s in Interior Design
Popular career plans for Liberal Arts program
The contrary to popular belief, there are a lot of great, money-driving career opportunities for liberal arts graduates. There are various career options in the media field, as writers, editors, journalists or even speechwriters.
There are multiple career positions in cultural institutions such as galleries, museums, libraries, various religions, and non-profit organizations and more. Liberal arts graduates focused on psychology could work in various centers as well as social service centers. Lastly, students may find interest in the social and political sciences and work in government-specialized fields. Other career opportunities include assistants, city planning, lobbyist, work in the ministry and more.
You may also like: 10 Best College Majors For The Future
Benefits of studying Liberal Arts
The liberal art major prepares students for a great selection of careers. However, it may be hard to make a difference between different job positions due to strict education rules. Here are some benefits of studying liberal arts majors.
You obtain versatile skills
While computer science, IT, healthcare and business programs tend to prepare graduates to earn high amounts of money initially, it’s the versatile and diverse skill set that sets the liberal arts career options from the competition. Their creativity can surpass the technical knowledge over time. Moreover, liberal arts graduate will do their best to make the best out of the situation and can easily adapt to a change of situation.
Creativity in branding themselves
Graduating liberal arts doesn’t mean that you have to work for someone and make their dream come true. Instead, use your ideas to brand yourself and make your name. Other than that, you can work as a manager, come up with creative ideas that will help your CEO grow their business and improve its visibility. Liberal arts graduates are patient enough to focus on aspects that will help them grow, market themselves, spread the presence online and build a powerful portfolio that will carry them deeper into the career waters.
Social responsibility
Liberal arts students learn to create. They grow as individuals and become socially responsible for their surroundings. They want to make the world a better place and will have to spend a lot of time volunteering compared to students of other majors.
They learn to be flexible and think outside the box. Their social responsibility prepares them to change the world, create, be artistic and grow careers that didn’t exist yet. They have so much responsibility and important task on their hands. That’s why it’s not for everyone.
Conclusion
Whether the liberal arts major is for you or not is up to you to decide. If you find yourself in creating new things, thinking out of the box and wanting to answer critical questions, don’t let others take your mind off it. There are plenty of career options awaiting outside, with a lot more new ones waiting to be discovered.
In the end, every degree program exists because it boasts a number of great careers. The best part of the liberal arts degree is that it provides a foundation for students to work in nearly every field of expertise.
