Liberal Arts vs Preprofessional – Which Road?

Is a liberal arts major still worthwhile? There has been much discussion in the media and popular press of late regarding this question with experts on both sides of the divide positing convincing views. Add to this mix the countless and often apocryphal stories about student debt – with the standard “lead in” recounting the tale of the unemployed anthropology major – and you’ve got the makings of an emotionally charged debate. Interestingly, Richard Arum and Josipa Roska, authors of the recent book “Academically Adrift” which followed 2300 students at 24 universities over the course of four years found that students who took traditional liberal arts and science courses fared better in terms of the increase in skills measured by the Collegiate Learning Assessment than students who took undergraduate courses in preprofessional fields. Additionally, and not surprisingly, the authors found that courses requiring large amounts of reading and writing – which is the “sine qua non” of the liberal arts – tended to learn more. Conversely – and perhaps more anecdotal in nature compared with the hard data presented by the other side – are numerous articles describing employers unable to find the skilled workers that they need to run their businesses. Companies today do not have the time nor the resources to train new employees. As Tony Wagner of Harvard, the author of “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World” explains, “the world no longer cares about what you know; the world only cares about what you can do with what you know”. Here’s the disconnect – the merger of the information technology revolution and globalization has wiped out many decent-wage, middle skilled jobs and replaced them with decent-wage, high-skilled jobs. But enough Americans aren’t ready – likely one reason unemployment rates still hover close to eight percent.

As an Independent Educational Consultant I grapple with this dilemma daily. How do I counsel students and families to choose majors wisely, particularly clients who are borrowing heavily to attend college. Presently, I employ a centrist strategy working within the confines and limitations dictated by both the liberal arts and preprofessional tracks. I encourage my liberal arts students to think about how their majors relate to “real world” jobs. Also, I press this group to find summer internships in the business sector and seek out research positions with their college professors. For those students following the professional route I urge them to look at institutions which require a liberal arts general curriculum before entering the professional major – there’s no reason that professional programs and the liberal arts need to be mutually exclusive. Finally, I place a heavy emphasis on rigorous high school classes. There’s no substitute for this – “prologue truly is epilogue” – and those with the best academic foundation and preparation will have the most choices in the end.