A college graduation season truth: Liberal arts degrees are valuable and practical

Though studies show that employers seek the skills honed by the liberal arts, their value continues to be questioned, from the White House to parents to colleges themselves. As students across the country prepare to graduate, we at St. Lawrence University have hard data that unequivocally shows liberal arts graduates are getting great jobs and embarking on great careers and lives. 

Nearly 97% of last year’s class at our four-year liberal arts institution were either employed or pursuing further education less than a year after graduation. Since these outcomes have been consistent for a decade — and were even close to that strong during the 2008 recession — there’s every reason to believe that this year’s class will fare just as well.

Studies like one by The Hamilton Project show earnings over a lifetime of those who have a college degree exceed those who only have high school or technical training. While lifetime earnings vary tremendously by college major, and there is substantial variation in earnings within majors, it’s often the case that those who study at liberal arts institutions advance swiftly once they enter their professions.

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Most liberal arts colleges require students to achieve some mastery in a wide variety of academic disciplines, including the most lucrative areas that emphasize quantitative skills, regardless of their selected major. And, of course, future earnings are not the only factor students consider in choosing a major: meaningful work, making a difference by filling a social need, and pure joy in learning for its own sake are what drive students' decisions in liberal arts colleges.

Engineering and technology, areas that seem to get the most attention for job readiness, and that many of our leaders say are the paths young people should follow, have as their foundation the arts and sciences — literature, philosophy, mathematics, and social and physical sciences. In other words, liberal arts students are learning the methods of the disciplines that actually fuel new discovery and innovation.

Equipping students for life

In a dynamic world, the foundational work is more relevant to address future challenges than the latest technological tool that could become obsolete in a few years. Liberal arts students adapt. They also help to make up an informed citizenry better able to confront the challenges we face now and in the future. Here is a sampling of our graduates this month:

►While an undergraduate, communications major Lizzy Lasusa did an internship with Rockefeller Capital Management, and when she graduates, she will work with the firm’s financial advisers to organize and manage the assets of high net-worth clients. 

►Through our African Studies department, Hannah Markey secured an internship at the Brookings Institution this summer, after which she will begin graduate studies at Georgetown University.

►August Vitzthum, who will graduate with a major in computer science and minors in mathematics and German, will be a software engineer for Rendever, a virtual reality company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, “that gives older adults a window to the parts of the world that they're missing.” 

The vast majority of our graduates succeed because of what they learn here, and they hit the ground running thanks to their curiosity and ability to learn, as well as the internships, networking and mentoring opportunities offered here. Some have as many as four internships on their résumés, and these experiences lead to many having jobs or admittance to graduate programs long before they receive their diplomas.

Liberal arts are vital, practical 

Then there’s what our president calls our secret weapon — the 28,000 St. Lawrence alumni around the world, who help hundreds of students develop career paths while still on campus by mentoring them and helping them establish networks and industry skills. A parent network operates in a similar manner.

We are by no means unique. DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, is so confident that its students will succeed in the job market, it guarantees a job to any student who cannot find one within six months of graduation. Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, has developed a graphic representation of the job success gleaned by students in every major.

The disconnect between the success in jobs and life that liberal arts graduates enjoy and the way its value is dismissed in our culture is even more ironic when you consider what other countries are doing. 

China, our largest and most ambitious competitor in the world economy, is introducing the liberal arts in its universities, eschewing rote learning and narrow job focus for creative thinking, problem-solving and communications skills. Hong Kong is hiring our educators to help it infuse the liberal arts into its curricula.

How can we convince the public once and for all that the liberal arts are not only worth paying for, but also that it would be smart to incorporate them into business and technical programs? Since surveys show that many Americans cannot even explain what the liberal arts are, maybe it’s time we use my favorite term — the practical arts.

Ron Albertson is director of career services at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. Follow him on Twitter: @ron_albertson