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Earning an Online Liberal Arts Degree

If you are trying to decide between a vocational degree or one in liberal arts, you may be asking yourself which type of education will be a better choice in terms of the global marketplace.

Here are some reasons why a liberal arts program is the better choice:

Real World Skills

Seven things that educational and economic leaders consider essential for competing in a global marketplace, as outlined by Tony Wagner in the October 2008 issue of Educational Leadership are:

• Curiosity and Imagination
• Collaboration of leadership
• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Effective oral and written communication
• Accessing and analyzing information
• Agility and adaptability
• Initiative and Entrepreneurialism

Most of the companies you will interview with after graduation are looking for employees who possess the type of skills learned through brick-and-mortar or online liberal arts programs. Business leaders want you to come prepared with these skills; they can then train you to do your specific job within the company.

What a Liberal Art Degree Program Teaches Students:

• How to think, not what to think. You will be trained to think independently and analytically along with the ability to do so empathetically and with self-control.
• How to learn. As Albert Einstein once said, “…The value of liberal arts degrees is that they train the mind to think.” (Frank, Phillip. 1947. Einstein: His Life and Times. 185. Alfred A. Knopf.)
• How to be more interesting. The more knowledge you possess, the more you will be able to express your creativity, wit, and wisdom – something employers desire.
• To develop the tools necessary to continue learning new things throughout their lives.
• To better their entire lives, not just their work lives.

If you have an interest in becoming a person of broader knowledge, who is well educated in a wide variety of areas, and who possesses skills desired by business leaders of today, a liberal arts degree is definitely the way to go.