The Importance Of Liberal Education

The basis of a liberal education by today’s definition is a way for a person to become educated in many aspects of different fields, and it provides a way for the student to always keep learning. With so much knowledge to obtain in multiple subjects, it is possible that someone could study their entire life and only scratch the surface of all the knowledge

Mark Edmundson speaks out about the apparent decline of college level education in his article, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students”. Edmundson believes liberal education is declining due to students losing passion and colleges selling students what they want: a good time.

William Cronon in his article, “Only Connect . . .” defines liberal education as “not something any of us ever achieve; it is not a state. Rather, it is a way of living in the face of our own ignorance, a way of groping toward wisdom in full recognition of our folly, a way of educating ourselves without any illusion that our educations will ever be complete” (5). Being liberally education means you are open to learn and knowing that is there no limit to how much you can learn. Personally I think this is a very important topic especially to me because I am the first in my family to go away to a university. I value education and it is a true privilege for me to attend Belmont University. Thus far, I consider myself to almost fully liberally

There are many benefits to getting a Liberal Arts degree in today’s economic market. It is a message to your employer that you are willing to take on new information, and learn more then what is necessary to succeed. It shows initiative and the ability to expand your horizons beyond yourself. In a Liberal Arts education there is more purpose then just learning the career field of choice. It is a program that teaches critical thinking and self-thought. It teaches the student how to learn and teach themselves, to achieve more than just memorization of facts.

In the article, What Should It Mean to Have a Liberal Education in the 21st Century?, D.G. Mulcahy presents Paul Hirst’s view of the traditional liberal education. Hirst, qtd. in Mulcahy’s article, explains that traditionally there are seven subjects of knowledge that humanity has used to understand reality. These seven subjects are math, the physical sciences, human culture throughout history, morality, art, religion, and philosophy (Mulcahy 469). These subjects are part of the majority of colleges’ liberal education or general education curriculum. While this is the intent of the more traditional Liberal Arts education, the system has evolved to meet the needs of a modern society.

Most of all, having what Ben Franklin calls, an “intense and broad-ranging curiosity” (114), provides benefits in that one will more likely be willing to pursue a liberal education, even if it is through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), and in doing so, will enlarge and broaden their vision, which will ultimately be an important factor in living an altruistic life. Without experiencing a liberal education, it will be difficult to completely appreciate its value to not only oneself, but to society at

Fareed Zakaria, author of “In Defense of a Liberal Education,” characterizes India as a technology-focused and economically driven country that values the idea of a liberal education about as much as someone values a fork when soup is for dinner. India is portrayed as a place that only cares about STEM related fields, stifling curiosity and denouncing the idea of learning for learning’s sake. When India and the United States are compared in “In Defence of a Liberal Education,” India comes across as uptight and old-fashioned while the United States is seen as a place of intellectual freedom. Zakaria maintains this view of India throughout the book, using his parents (his father is a lawyer and his mother is a journalist) to show there are exceptions to the rule.

Education is a process where one learns and apply the same learned information to a practical situation. Isaac Newton, a physicist and a mathematician, managed to discover the indescribable universe we now know, because of what we call liberal education. He did not study physics only but he learned other subjects including mathematics. He understood the basis needed to discover now called the imaginary world, universe. Moreover, author Sanford J. Ungar also portrayed the same idea about the importance of liberal education. He pointed it as a way to create capable and cultivated human beings. Liberal arts broaden the way humans think, such that we not only focus on one skill to tackle a problem but to look at range of skills. Additionally, the author also answered the wired misconceptions that are already in peoples’ minds by proving them wrong.

Michael Fromm, CEO of electrical Manufacturing, says in an article on CNBC, “I find people that have a liberal arts background have a broader view of the world and will go farther in business.” Practical skills create people trained to do one thing one way and not allowing for deviance. Kelley Holland, on an article “The Case for a liberal arts education,” says, “Graduates that are right out of college, by their peak earning years, from age 56 to 60, people with liberal arts degrees earn an average of $66,185, about $2,000 more than their peers with professional or pre-professional degrees.” Critical thinkers are perfectly capable of performing practical skills, and in fact, since they have been taught to think for themselves, will now be

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.

In recent discussions of liberal arts degrees, a controversial issue has been whether they are worth getting rather than a vocational degree. On one hand, some argue that getting a liberal arts degree is a waste of money and there are very limited jobs out there that a liberal arts degree could be used for. On the other hand, however, others argue that in order to be a well-rounded person and to be more interesting, a student should work towards a liberal arts degree. According to this view, even though there is not one specific job that the individual will be trained for while obtaining a liberal arts education, he or she will be feeding their brain and giving himself or herself a chance to develop better knowledge of subjects in social sciences, literature, and mathematics. In sum, then, the issue is whether getting a liberal arts education is worth it or not. My own view is that I believe being an intellectually developed person is extremely important; therefore, I agree that pursuing a liberal arts education can be very valuable.

A liberal arts education is based on the idea of learning how to think and have morals. The Oxford dictionary defines “think” as “Direct one’s mind towards someone or something; use one’s mind actively to form connected ideas”. To be able to think one must be attentive. A liberal arts education is teaching one to have the knowledge and apply it to the correct end. To be able to apply it to an everyday situation.

Higher education is optional, but to enter a respectable career, one must continue their education in order to achieve his financial and/or personal goals. Teenagers who attend college use their extended schooling to further obtain knowledge. The primary objective of higher education is to enhance one’s abilities for his future. A student can learn from school in numerous ways, but liberal education is not a way to attract students into further and higher education. However, students can learn a lot more through experiences that have affected their personal lives. I agree with author Mike Rose’s theory that education needs are reached to obtain a higher academic level by teaching students information that can be related to their personal

The value a liberal education has for me is almost immeasurable. I say this because I come from an immigrant family and will be the first to have completed college. Since I was a child my family always stressed how important a

Some have recently argued that a liberal education, as opposed to a vocational education, is a waste of time, money and effort because so much of these are spent on the pursuit of knowledge not at all relevant to the chosen major. As Bob Newman of Paradigm Media states, "We all know that career colleges and trade schools get a bad rep in the education industry. For many, they’re viewed as the “other option” or Plan B. What surprises me about these stereotypes is that the data available shows that career/trade school grads can make way more in the long run than students with a Bachelors or even Masters degree.” The common consensus is that college is a mere ticket to the corporate world of high pay, early retirement jobs. If this is