liberal arts

Liberal arts majors earn more than professional majors during that time in their lives when they make the most money per year. That’s according to a new report out Wednesday from the Association of American Colleges and Universities whose findings, educators say, fly in the face of today’s popular perception. 

With the sticker price for college soaring, the public has grown skeptical of the value of higher education in general and liberal arts in particular.

In this video from WGBH's Forum Network,  John Kuykendall, president emeritus of Davidson College, suggests that the 'danger' in a liberal education is not making the most of it. Kuykendall says liberal learning requires doing something with what we learn, and that it implies that we focus not so much on making a living as in making a life.

Only eight percent of students now major in the humanities, according to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, down from a peak of more than 17 percent in 1967. The trend is worrisome, and plenty of college presidents have come to the defense of the humanities.