By Anna Real
Staff Writer
The question of whether students should choose their majors early on or have time to decide has been at the heart of the liberal arts versus major focused debate for years. Pursuing a liberal arts education in college is better than having focused-major studies because it helps students determine what they want to pursue as a career.
A liberal arts education requires students to take a wide range of courses in many subjects before they graduate. According to the New York Times, the skills of liberal arts students can be applied to their major and create more comprehensive work and communication both in college and in a job. A liberal arts education is better because it teaches students a wider variety of skills than a major-focused education.
Liberal arts also helps students obtain valuable life skills through a breadth of classes and internship opportunities before they enter the workforce. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, taking liberal arts classes will help students obtain certain skills, such as communication and critical thinking, which are widely useful but may not be developed at a major-focused institution.
Liberal arts studies also give students more time to determine which major best fits their interests before declaring in their sophomore year. According to Boston University’s Liberal Arts versus Career Majors page, the skills taught in the liberal arts classes help students realize what they want to do for a job, as they spend the first two years of college satisfying a core curriculum that exposes them to a variety of subjects and possible occupations before declaring their major.
Additionally, according to the same page, skills taught through focused-major programs are somewhat short-lived, but the skills taught in a liberal arts program are more beneficial over a longer period of time. The general curriculum could be especially useful in careers that combine several subjects and will make students more flexible when changing careers.
According to Forbes, changing jobs often is the reality of the future market, and the generation entering college will have on average 15 to 20 different jobs in their lifetime. This is expected in part due to the fact that many jobs will be replaced by technology in the future. In this job climate, it is imperative that students gain a broad foundation that prepares them for a wide variety of occupations.
The Hechinger Report, a higher education news source, asserts that liberal arts create well-rounded students that are capable of performing multiple jobs instead of just one that they would specialize in with a major-focused education. With a liberal arts degree, students will be marketable to a wider variety of employers.
There is an argument that there are more job opportunities for focused majors. However, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, after about 10 years, students with liberal arts educations usually catch up financially to the students with focused-major educations. Because there is only a short-term financial benefit, students should choose to pursue a liberal arts education.
A liberal arts education exposes students to a more broad curriculum, teaching them skills that are important across disciplines and that will make students more employable and desirable.
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