There is a lot of confusion with parents and students with respect to liberal arts. As you walk out the door and you ask 10 different people about liberal arts and you will get 10 different answers.
We need to clear this confusion. Liberal arts is an education system that provides a holistic education in development to a student. In liberal arts, we allow students to explore. It is as rigorous as any other program. It could be even more rigorous than any other conventional programs but rather than focusing on honing a student's IQ only, we are focusing on a holistic development of students. A student pursuing liberal arts education in a liberal arts university essentially opts from a plethora of options given to them so they major in either humanities, social sciences, mathematics, economics, etc. While they pursue their major they are also taking many other courses that are offered in other disciplines. It expands the horizons, allow them to view from multiple perspectives, allot the child to connect the dots and the central talent of the liberal arts education has its roots to its effective communication skills both written and oral, critical thinking, philosophy, complex problem solving, ethics. Those are central talents that every child is expecting to undertake in a liberal arts program. So in a summary, if you choose liberal arts as your option you have to do foundation courses in year one irrespective of your major. So, you could major in computer science, sociology, psychology whatever you choose from the options that a liberal arts college offers you. The foundation courses allow you to hone skills which will prepare you for multiple jobs. So typically, a graduate irrespective of his/her major will be generally compared to other peer groups and you will be generally more creative, critical thinker, and a great communicator. so rather than honing your IQ only, in liberal arts programs we ensure that we hone your spiritual quotient as well, your aesthetic quotient, cultural quotient. We ensure that a child is sensitive about his/her environment, cultural issues/social issues, and you develop a mindset of public service. So liberal arts focus on holistic development.

Prof. Dishan Kamdar
VC, FLAME University