A Liberal Arts Degree: Gambling Your Time and Money?

            Choosing the right path in higher education proves a difficult task. Colleges offer a wide variety of degrees, yet the liberal arts degree possesses an interest for everyone in one way or another. More over, one must note that the liberal arts degree and the liberal arts education are two different things: the degree bases its studies off of many categories, while the education focuses on one particular subject (for example, microbiology) while also having a broader range in general studies. The liberal arts degree has a variety of requirements and students find some courses engaging and others repulsive. A key factor that makes the degree so appealing resides in the wide variety of experiences and knowledge it has to offer. Through those experiences, many even find the career choice they have longed to discover. As a student seeking a college education, I have considered pursuing a liberal arts degree for these very reasons; however, I must not only consider the positive outcomes, but also the drawbacks of this type of degree, as well. Although a four-year liberal arts degree offers a wide variety of experiences and knowledge, this particular degree can be expensive and time-consuming.

Fig. 1 “Quote on Liberal Arts.” 

Photo Credit: comerecommended, 16 Apr. 2014.

            The liberal arts degree appeals to the interest of many students because of the variety of experiences and expansive knowledge the degree offers. This comes from the many different courses the major requires. For example, according to the “Liberal Arts Distribution Requirements” article, the degree requires courses in writing, in math, in natural sciences, in humanities, and in global awareness (1-2 of 3, ¶ 1-14). Any student can acquire a greatly diversified intellect from these many categories. In addition, Sanford Ungar, a liberal arts college president, voices his argument for the degree in his essay, “The New Liberal Arts.” In his essay, he explains how the degree is not useless – how many people believe – but that it is a degree that helps someone adapt to change in the economy. He writes, “it is far wiser for students to prepare for change – and the multiple careers they are likely to have – than to search for a single job track that might one day become a dead end (Ungar, 190-191).” From this statement, it can be concluded that the broad range of knowledge and variety of experiences that the liberal arts degree offers allows students to adapt to sudden changes in the economy and their careers – through this view, the liberal arts degree can be seen as Gollum’s “precious” in the world of college education. The quote in Figure 1 agrees with Ungar’s notion that the liberal arts degree makes a student flexible in the job world. However, towards the end of his article, Ungar unmasks a downside to liberal arts: the unreasonable “runaway costs” (195). The liberal arts degree offers invaluable knowledge and diverse experiences; however, Ungar convicts the liberal arts of being expensive which leads me to my next point that the liberal arts degree may not be worthwhile because it is overpriced.

Fig. 2 “Textbook costs on the rise.” 

Photo Credit: Funpopper, 16 Apr. 2014.

            The four-year liberal arts degree costs an incredible amount of money, especially for those wishing to go beyond this particular major and going for something more career-focused. In a scholarly article titled “Making College More Expensive,” Gary Wolfram revealed that the college price tag has increased drastically. He exposed that the rate of increasing college prices has soared past the rate of the economy’s inflation. Over a ten-year time period – from 1994/95 to 2004/05 – he discovered that college prices skyrocketed fifty-one percent for public schools and thirty-six percent for private schools (Wolfram, 5, ¶ 17). These surging college prices spread like an epidemic, a plague that keeps dispersing and you hope it will cease and hope that you won’t be affected, but in reality it just keeps infecting the public and no one can escape it (except, in this case, those who don’t go to college). In addition, Figure 2 gives a visual of the contrast between exploding college prices and inflation. Such a dramatic increase in price exposes the outrageousness of college expenses. More over, to assume that students can afford attending college for more than a four-year time span (the time it would take to earn a liberal arts degree) at such absurd prices is preposterous. Pursuing a liberal arts degree may not be worthwhile after one considers the high cost of college and also the great amount of time it takes.

Fig. 3 “Family House.” 

Photo Credit: umamahlearningacademy.blogspot, 16 Apr. 2014.

Many students who are opting for a career-based education do not want to pursue the liberal arts degree because it consumes much of one’s time. Students do not want to spend four years pursuing the degree and then have to continue their college education another two to four years. They want to start a new chapter in their lives – particularly a family life. College education interferes with buying a house and starting a family. For example, my mother wanted to pursue a degree in elementary education. However, after she had me, along with a full-time job, raising my older brothers and me demanded more time and effort than she could manage and she felt obligated to quit. The education, full-time job, and raising a family overwhelmed her. So, if one wanted to have a degree, but also raise a family, he or she would have to put off one thing until it was accomplished before starting on the other. If not, one of their responsibilities would suffer. If one would choose to pursue a career-focused degree, having to obtain the liberal arts degree would consume too much of one’s valuable time and interfere with starting a family.

            The liberal arts degree offers expansive experiences and invaluable intellect because of the many diverse courses it requires. However, obtaining a degree has some major drawbacks. The task of acquiring the degree costs an exceptional amount of both time and money. For those seeking a college education, the liberal arts degree presents itself as something to consider. However, after viewing these consequences, not everyone will find this degree worth its price. I appreciate and value the knowledge offered by the liberal arts education (as mentioned before, the liberal arts education differs from the degree in that it focuses on one subject). However, the liberal arts degree consumes too much of ones time and money – I feel this way, my mom felt this way, but not everyone feels this way. Some people do find the liberal arts degree worthwhile. One must ask himself or herself whether or not to gamble the time and money the liberal arts degree requires.

Words Cited

“Liberal Arts Distribution Requirements.” Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences. School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers. 2014. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.

Ungar, Sanford. “The New Liberal Arts.” “They Say / I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing with Readings. Eds. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Russel Durst. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2012. 190-191, 195. Print. 6 Apr. 2014.

Wolfram, Gary. “Making College More Expensive: The Unintended Consequences of Federal Tuition Aid.” Cato Institute 531 (2005); 5. Policy Analysis. Web. 7 Apr 2014.