John's Essay: The Value Of A Liberal Arts Degree

A liberal arts education in the 21st century is basically referring to college studies that provides general knowledge and helps to develop intellectual ability. Liberal arts education is the type of education to prepare one for many fields in today's workplace. As Jamila Lyiscott stated in the video having a great education is important. Lyiscott stated to have a great education is to be able to be articulate when communicating with people. While obtaining a great education provides people to set their goals in life, no matter if it is short or long term goals. Everybody, not just college students, should plan their life out through short and long term goals.

According to an internet article, liberal arts graduates can achieve almost any career they want. (Curran) The article goes on to say that career choices for liberal arts graduates can be overwhelming, since there are so many. A liberal arts education will teach students specific skills that are very valuable, such as reasoning, problem-solving, communication, and social skills, which are the skills that employers have been demanding more and more. Due to common belief, liberal arts students tend to think that they are in danger of having only low-paying jobs throughout their life. That might be true in some cases, but it doesn’t have to be. For instance, my friend Jake graduated with a liberal arts education. Now, working in the career field of his dreams, Jake makes more money in one year than it cost him to go to college for four years. To accomplish this, you will have to be able to market the skills that you have learned and be able to show future employers how valuable you will be in that career.

He wrote, “The career bandwagon seems to suggest that shortcuts are available to students that lead directly to high-paying jobs—leaving out “frills” like learning how to write and speak well, how to understand the nuances of literacy texts and scientific concepts, how to collaborate with others on research” What he means by that is there is no shortcuts to a high-paying jobs. He also implies that liberal arts education is the only right way to prepare an individual for their future career because it equips ones with the abilities to write and speak formally, and understandings on scientific matter or how to cooperate with other people for your work, etc. However, I do not think he can deny the fact that the starting salary for a liberal arts graduate is approximately $32,500 while for an engineer is $75,000, (http://www.mtu.edu/engineering/outreach/welcome/salary/). For instant, what can a person possibly do with his philosophy degree right after graduating? He will probably have to go for more schooling before he can find a high-paying job at some big firms or he will have to struggle a lot before he can open his philosophy shop or publish his book. In short, a liberal arts degree will take longer to see its worth than career education or vocational training.

Martin Luther King Junior said, “Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.” Higher education does not exist for the sole purpose of preparing students for future jobs; it’s there in order to prepare individuals for life where they are expected to participate in their community, their government, and the lives of those around them. Liberal arts, in particular, exist for the broadening of students’ minds in order for them to be successful not only in their chosen career but also in their lives outside of it. Liberal arts lost their past popularity during the last few decades, but they shouldn’t be disregarded in favor of technical and professional degrees because they still provide students with skills that are perhaps less tangible, but no less necessary for life in modern world.

Bok tends to favor vocational majors more than liberal arts because he states that vocational majors are easier to find a job and earn money faster. College should give students more opportunities to build connections within one’s career and give one feedback about one’s work. “Preparing for a Career” makes the reader question about college and whether or not liberal art majors will benefit them in the future. Bok’s argument focuses heavily on how to improve the education system in order to help students in

A study in general education (liberal arts) affects different aspects of my development both physically and mentally. A liberal arts education has shaped the form I conceive and return over individual circumstances. After attending class and reading all the benefits of a liberal arts education it has shaped the direction I held regarding a Liberal Arts education. A liberal arts education has shifted the way I study and the process I go about completing my school work. Furthermore, from the manner I organize my day to the way I organize my goals, a liberal arts education really shaped the way I do my everyday schedule. The liberal arts class changed me into a greater adapted, more efficient and effective member of society. A liberal arts education taught me the value and efficiency of critical and independent thinker. Within the real world, an individual who can show aforementioned qualities is higher valued than the person who cannot. With a liberal arts education, you are more fit to acquire and exhibit these skills. A liberal arts education are intended to broaden the general knowledge and experiences of the students, and the class accomplished just that. The class affected my mentality about school and the way I see the real world.

In recent discussion of the new liberty art education , a controversial issue has been weather it is efficient or not. On the one hand, some argue that liberty art education is only for those who can afford it. From this perspective, only wealthy blue blood can take such a frivolous major and waste time. On the other hand, however, other argued that it provide student with an excellent education and a demanding thinking skill. In the words of Sanford j. ungar, one of the view’s main proponents, employers are “look for more emphasis ‘on the ability to effectively communicate orally and writing’’(192). According to this view. Career major , as opposed to liberal art majors, are not fitting to bill for more as for most employers (ungar 192). In sum, then the issue is whether a liberal art degree is appropriate for all student seeking a higher education .

"Aspects of recent debates about the value of a liberal arts education, its usefulness and its appropriateness strike a familiar and disturbing historical chord." Recently in English class, my peers and read and discussed an article titled, "Why We Need Liberal Arts" written by Joseph R. Urgo from The Baltimore Sun. This article is about the importance and value of a liberal arts education. Liberal arts are college or university studies (as language, philosophy, literature, abstract science) intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities (as reason and judgment) as opposed to professional or vocational skills Society may say that college is a waste of time and money, but is it really? Some people

Being a creative, self-motivated, and reliable employee is an added bonus. Hiring liberal arts graduates means that place of employment has well-rounded and efficient employees which are needed in any place of

The big question everyone seems to be floating around is achieving a college education worth all your time and money? Since plenty college graduates had faced record levels of unemployment, it’s very ironic how they have a high degree yet cannot have a career like those without one. However, having an intellectual college education does offer us more than just an occupation. It gives us a great experience, a broader mindset and a stronger capability. The college graduates that discharge a career find an exceptionally satisfying job or a prosperous career in the liberal arts as well. For a distinguished college education, the general outcome of that would be to live happily ever after making a living effortless in the profession you studied

To go to college, or not go to college. This is a question that has gone through the minds of almost every American, especially within the past twenty years. In Charles Murray’s essay, “Are Too Many People Going to College?” he explains that college is not worth the time or effort unless a lucrative career choice is being pursued. On the opposing side Sanford J. Ungar’s essay, “The New Liberal Arts,” gives evidence towards why more people need to receive a liberal education at the college level because of the skills that such an education provides. I find Murray’s argument to be more convincing because when considering the question of, “Why go to college?”, one should always be aware of the payoff that their occupation may yield. It is

In the article The Unexpected Value of the Liberal Arts, the goal is to spread knowledge to others on how social and liber degrees can befit all. Expressing the beneficial skills and life stories helps to shed light on these degrees being viable opportunities that are not just associated with those of wealth and social influence. The author George Anders continues with this goal throughout the article by giving examples of modern people while attending college, changing their ideals, and adapting to situations that better themselves through changes of majors or utilization of college groups. The argument is that former stereotypes relating to liberal arts is not valid and that many opportunities can be opened by perusing this degree.

So, if your major doesn’t matter, how do you choose? I think if you consider your passion and interests, as well as job prospects (but don’t obsess over them) you are setting yourself up for success. If you choose a liberal arts degree, prepare yourself for some unfair scrutiny. Our society tends to cut the value of some degrees, such as the liberal arts.

The liberal arts are a vital subject for the curriculum of every school worldwide. However, numerous education reforms set in motion by American government have begun to take a heavy toll on the existence of art programs in schools. Subjects such as theatre, music, dance, visual arts, and many more are being sacrificed economically in lieu of basic subjects that are listed as more important by the state. As a result of these funding cuts to arts programs, students across the nation are beginning to lose crucial opportunities to take part in these traditional fields of study. The liberal arts programs across the nation’s schools provide more to students than can be attained in the basic classroom setting, and therefore should not be surrendered to other subjects that are deemed more prominent. Nearly every aspect of the arts has been in practice since the dawn of man. Before the existence of the world’s major technologies such as the television or the internet, people had to entertain themselves. As Efland writes in his research of the history of art education, “as long as the arts have existed, artists, performers, and audience members have been educated for their roles.” Perhaps the most well-known of the art practices are the visual arts. Everything from cave drawings, carvings, statues, tattoos, piercings, to even decorated dishes serve as examples of the earliest visual arts. These items often served as symbols for cultural deities, stories of the past, folklore, and

In focusing so much on how many people are not intellectual, and how wrong a liberal education is for most students, or how it might not be a great idea, and how it’s the social norm, Murray overlooks the positivity of a liberal arts education and how it can impact our society in a great way for many people.in one instance Murray deliberately tries to debunk the B.A degree by stating the numbers of those who don’t successfully achieve stating “a rheid of all those who entered college hoping for B.A leave without one”(252). He fails to state the figures of those who succeed in getting a B.A degree compared to high school students and the positive of rate of return for a person he’s blinded and doesn't show the attributes of getting a B.A the