What’s a Liberal Arts Degree and What Can It Do For You? A 2020 Guide

You may have heard the term ‘liberal arts school’ or ‘liberal arts college,’ but what do those actually entail? 

While everyone is—sometimes, rightfully so— touting the best of what STEM degrees like engineering, science, and mathematics offer to graduates, many forget to mention the benefits of a liberal arts degree program. 

Liberal arts degrees are found at nearly every college and higher institutions of learning, creating the bedrock of a student’s education for centuries. They are actually quite useful if you have just enrolled in college and are perhaps unsure of what to specialize in. Liberal arts programs cover multitudes of courses and there is an impressive amount of careers you can score with such a degree. 

What Are the Liberal Arts Exactly? 

Now that we know a little background and history on liberal arts degrees, what do these liberal arts educations actually have as part of their curriculum? We know that it’s a bit of everything, but let’s dig deeper and explore the many facets of being a liberal arts student. 

A liberal arts education is one of the oldest forms of higher education in the world, tracing its roots back to ancient times. The Greeks actively formed and studied the liberal arts, and it is considered to be all of the subjects that made a well-rounded education. 

Liberal arts consists of a veritable feast of different school subjects. That so-called well-rounded education includes subjects like history, philosophy, social sciences, and even foreign languages. 

They also split up into further, more detailed courses like art history and political science. Liberal arts graduates usually earn their bachelor’s degrees. They show employers that they possess a valuable, well-rounded education. They are also generally able to demonstrate that they have refined their communication skills, world views, and knowledge of a wide variety of topics. 

Those majoring in liberal arts can take the general, more broad major and whittle it down into a more specific field. Liberal arts majors can become literature teachers, artists, journalists, and more. 

Jobs You Can Find with a Degree

We know what you’re thinking, “What kind of jobs can I get with a liberal arts degree?” Below are some of the professions you can explore with such a degree.

Graphic Designer or Artist

That’s right, it’s not all dusty old tomes. You can find yourself in a diverse art field, with all of the relevant art knowledge you need to hit the ground running in the job market. You can become a graphic artist, a UX/UI designer, animator, illustrator, and undertake a whole slew of other exciting artistic endeavors. 

Digital Marketer

If you leaned heavily into journalism and communications, digital marketing might be your calling. With digital marketing, you’re primarily studying what works and what doesn’t at a company or business concerning their customers or who they’re trying to reach with their products and services.

This is perfect if you’re more into tech and feel like you have your finger on the pulse of what people want. You could even find yourself becoming a social media manager or involved in market research.

Human Resources Coordinator

Human resources (HR) is a fantastic way for those social butterflies out there to make their mark using a liberal arts degree. Working in human resources allows you to screen for potential hires, build a valuable rapport between employees at a company, implement training programs and strategies, or to conduct interviews.

Some Noteworthy Liberal Arts Programs

Duquesne University

With online degrees becoming more prominent in the mindset of remote students and those with hectic or full schedules, online liberal arts degrees, especially at American colleges and universities, can prove to be a useful alternative to face-to-face classrooms and droning lecture halls. 

One such program is the one offered at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It can be completed either both in-person or online. 

Students who want to mix it up a little can enjoy the hybrid setup of a degree in liberal arts by attending the physical campus for a portion of the course length, supplemented with online materials and courses. There are also accelerated programs for liberal arts majors, in which students can complete their degrees in shorter semesters and terms. 

Rochester Institute of Technology

R.I.T. is a noteworthy school in terms of its namesake, but it also has a notable liberal arts program. It consists of a ton of different and varied courses like web design and development, communications, criminal justice, and health systems administration.

The school offers full online degrees that come in the form of both bachelor’s and associate’s degrees. It also provides a fantastic human resources master’s degree, putting the cherry on top of the liberal arts degree sundae.

It estimates that a student going full time at Rochester Institute of Technology can complete the associates and bachelor’s programs in 2-3 years, depending on how big of a workload the student takes on. 

Final Thoughts on Liberal Arts Degrees 

If any of the above tickled your fancy, a liberal arts degree may be right up your alley. If you find yourself drawn towards arts, the humanities, the way humans think, natural science, and a whole wide range of similar subject matter, it is recommended that you check out these fantastic liberal arts programs available at the click of the mouse. 

Whether you are reading about Caligula or Cleopatra, studying the musical histories of Pippin or Phantom of the Opera, there’s a ton of variety in working towards a liberal arts degree.