“An institutional ethos and tradition that place a strong value on student-student and student-faculty interactions both in and out of the classroom.”  What is the incentive for professors to spend time discussing and developing ideas of the intellectual arts with students outside the mandated teaching hours?

According to a new Survey of Parents conducted by Inside Higher Ed in 2013, parents were more likely to strongly believe that no college at all can lead to a good job than to believe that a liberal arts education can lead to a good job. What are some of the factors involving in the misinformed parents’ view on liberal arts education and how can colleges help alter these views?

Although the percentage of students enrolled in higher education has boomed and will keep increasing, how come America will still be “3 million college-educated workers short to meet demand”? Does the fault lie in college education or K-12 education?

What do you believe would be an accurate way to test “subject area expertise, a good work ethic, an ability to work smoothly with a variety of people, and, for management, leadership ability” without first having a student obtain a job to verify all these attributes?

Do you think the college is responsible with teaching critical and analytical reasoning, as well as, specific technical field skills or should the employer and workplace assume responsibility for one?

What do you guys, personally, feel about this: as stated in Liberal Arts Colleges Rethink Their Messaging in the Face of Criticism, “They’re [college-bound students] very concerned about the greater good, about society, the environment, the bigger picture, but they also are very concerned with their personal futures, and they’re not going to set that aside for some larger good.”

1. If the advocates of liberal education are saying that it is the “best” and that all students should obtain it, why are so many students opting to go to schools that don’t offer a liberal arts education like vocational schools? Is it for financial reasons? Does this mean that liberal education is only for the elite?
2. Just like most institutions are doing mission creep and trying to become like Harvard, are most colleges trying to become liberal arts oriented?
3. Is the economic recession a potential cause of 38% of parents claiming that the goal of college is to get a good job? Is it the immigrant mindset?
4. Is the reason that most graduate and professional school require students to have a Bachelor’s before applying is that they value the benefits of a liberal arts education?
5. If most employers mostly care about communication and problem solving skills which a liberal arts education is known to provide, shouldn’t colleges be doing more to make sure that parents understand the long term benefits of a liberal arts education?
6. More and more research is showing that a college education is needed to succeed in the future. What are colleges and the government doing to make sure that college is affordable and students are getting the quality education?
7. In the article that critiques liberal arts education, it is stated that students can learn some of the things that a liberal arts education teaches by themselves. The question is, are students motivated enough to do so, especially with so many distractions, like T.V. and the internet,  around them?
8. How is technology contributing to the way students learn? Will listening to online lectures be the main way students learn rather than attending lectures in the future?
9. If a liberal arts education is needed for students living in a democracy, is it not needed for non-democratic states?
10.  Isn’t the increase in interest in making sure that an education leads to a job natural in a capitalist society like America?

1. What are some of the goals of  a liberal arts education? What are the means by which those goals are attained, and what outcomes would you say constitute achievement of those goals? Have the goals of a liberal arts education changed in recent years with regards to many factors that include the changing economy, job market, and rise in technology incorporation into learning etc.? If yes, how so? Do you think a liberal arts education will still be relevant in the future, or do you think it will fade in importance?

2. In Greater Expectations, The Association of American Colleges and Universities suggested that liberal education must change in two ways; one of them being that “it must define itself as the best and most practical form of learning for a changing world and strive to meet that standard.” Would you agree that a liberal arts education is the best/most practical form of learning? Why or why not?

3. How does a liberal arts education serve the individual? How does a liberal arts education serve society as a whole?

4. Many would say the training a liberal arts education can provide for advancing critical thinking skills as well as oral and written communication is essential to professional success. Furthermore, the students who approach their education purely in terms of occupational preparation may deprive themselves of the opportunity to find inspiration and excel in some other area of concentration. For most students, the decision about what they should major in goes beyond an analysis of employment statistics. Choosing a major in response to a changing job market is not always the most practical or rewarding way to approach one’s undergraduate education, but many feel obligated to major in a subject that they think will appeal to more graduate/professional schools, whether or not they are interested in it or not. What is a student to do when what they want to major in conflicts with what they think they should major in?

5. Do we measure the success of the graduate’s college experience by the first job attained by the student or by a lifetime of his/her professional achievement? Americans now change jobs numerous times over a lifetime and when the jobs of tomorrow may not even exist today, how significant is preparation for a student’s first job?

6.  Do you think the phrase “study hard and you’ll get into the college of your dreams” is still applicable? If not, how can we make this more applicable?

7. Is job preparation in fact the top goal of higher education? If so, do you think a vocational certificate is worth more than a liberal arts degree in terms of leading to better jobs for students?

8. According to Jobs, Value, and Affirmative Action: A Survey of Parents about College, many parents are likely to restrict the colleges that their children apply to because the high “sticker prices” of many of the colleges scare them away. However, the article mentions that parents should be open to applying to even the most expensive schools because many colleges offer generous financial aid, but this message is not getting through to parents. Why is it that case that so many parents think this way, and why are parents unaware of the fact that colleges can give financial aid? Should this idea be publicized more to get the word out, so parents can allow their children to apply to more schools (even the highly-rated expensive institutions)?

9. When parents were asked to identify the most important reason for they child to go to college, the top answer was “to get a good job.” Answers that were associated with going to college for educational reasons were lagging. What do you think is the most important reason? Should this change the way higher education is structured in the future; and should higher education incorporate a more streamlined, job-focused approach?

10. According to the article Survey Finds that Business Executives Aren’t Focused on the Majors of Those They Hire, it appears that business executives are more interested in their new employee’s thinking, communication, problem-solving skills than their choice of undergraduate majors. Furthermore, they want higher education to ensure that every college graduate, no matter the major, achieves higher levels of education-based reasoning, research skills, and complex problem-solving skills etc. So why is it the case that “many politicians have of late been suggesting that the only way to prepare for a career is to focus on career-related majors?” Why is there such a disconnect?

11. In Humphrey’s powerpoint, it states “Today’s students will have 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.” Why is that the case? What is preventing these students from staying in a few stable jobs, and instead having such a large number of jobs?

12. If more and more people choose to attain certificates from vocational/training schools as oppose to liberal arts degrees, can we potentially be setting ourselves up for a stagnant economy in the future? Humphrey’s powerpoint suggests that the broad-range skills/capabilities developed from a liberal arts education have increasingly become the most valuable economic asset. If the economy is driven by innovation, and innovation is fostered through a liberal arts education, then what can we expect for the future of higher education and the economy (if people choose to attend more vocational schools than liberal arts institutions with the mindset that this will better prepare them for jobs)?

13. What is the best approach to solving the issue of liberal arts education vs. specific career specialization? From the Death of Liberal Arts article, it seems that obtaining a liberal arts education is still the best choice as it provides students with a broad range of necessary skills for the workplace, but students should also keep in mind that networking, good grades, and career goal-specific internships are an integral part of job preparation. Do you agree with this idea?

Does a liberal arts education almost “force” a student to go into grad school? How can a student acquire a job in the workforce without obtaining a more focused education?

Has the term liberal arts become so broad and loosely used that it can apply to many varieties of undergraduate education in America?

The Blaich article cites some benefits seen in students after completing a liberal arts education (such as improved standardized test scores). There is also more room for individualized attention in terms of student to teacher ratio. Seeing some of these benefits, would It be more beneficial colleges to adopt this liberal arts model?

The Jaschik article cites that many parents do not even consider sending their children to high sticker price colleges because they are unaware of the aid offered by some colleges. However, what are parents to do even after giving these colleges a chance and receiving very little aid in return? Won’t most of them have to go back to their more affordable alternatives?

Why do parents feel that a vocational school education will give their children a better chance at obtaining a liberal arts education? Can it be argued that a liberal arts education can provide both the benefits of educating and preparing a student for the workforce? Does the root of the problem lie in the fact that most of the public does not know what a liberal arts education is?

The employers in the articles emphasize that they want a worker to have knowledge of a broad range of topics as well as a focused area. This idea seems to point towards the liberal arts so should more national universities take up this liberal arts curriculum? How are students going to obtain these broader skills that the articles are emphasizing?

It seems that high school graduate rate has barely gone up or perhaps even decreased over the last couple of years. Yet there is still growing competition in the work force and many college students may even have to start obtaining some sort of post-secondary education. Why is there this increased competition when there isn’t a large percentage of students obtaining their bachelor’s degree?

Some of the articles argue that a liberal arts degree will not get a student anywhere in terms of a career. However who says that liberal arts only includes these “less competitive” majors? How are colleges going to implement some of these collaborative skills that employers are looking for?

1. If students are primarily going to college to get a good job (and, consequently, good jobs are requiring college degrees), should the focus of Higher Education be more on vocational training rather than well-rounded education? Why or why not?

2. Do you think that a liberal arts education succeeds in creating a critical thinking, complex-reasoning individual who can contribute innovation to the workplace?

3. If means of personal education is highly accessible nowadays due to technology, should society place such a strong emphasis on going to college? Is there an inherent factor within the college system that makes it more worthwhile than seeking knowledge on one’s own?

4. How could a capitalist society go about transforming its ideals to place a larger focus on social equality rather than economic incentive?

5. How do students who aren’t adequately prepared to be critical thinking, complex reasoning individuals factor into the national (and global) economy?

1. Liberal arts colleges are supposed to be more focused on teaching rather than research, according to the wikipedia article. Do you feel that colleges that call themselves liberal arts colleges, like Brooklyn College, fall under than definition?

2. Why do European colleges not generally have liberal arts programs, considering the liberal arts in the western context were founded there.

3.Why would students want to go to a non-liberal arts university if those universities are more teaching-focused?

4. Is there any way to test if a liberal arts college makes a student more “humane” or “globally a citizen”? If so, what are some ways?

5. Do you believe college is more necessary to get a good job or to get a good critical education?

6. Do you believe that counselors of certain professions erroneously suggest that undergraduate students go into a certain major?

7.What changes, if any, have colleges employed in their curricula to match the growing desire of interpersonal skills that employers desire in today’s job market?

8. What are some ways to improve high school graduation rates and what are some policies that NYC BoE have used in the past?

9. WHy do you think those with the least physical ability (the 1st quintile) earn the most amount of money?

10. DO you personally feel that attending college for the past two years has increased your ability to think critically, write, or demonstrate complex reasoning? Why?

Do you think college should cost a different amount for students pursuing a liberal arts degree. Is  a  liberal arts education worth less because the starting salary is generally lower?

Is class size more important in a liberal arts classroom than in a more technical class? Can online learning be used in the liberal arts?

Do you think a liberal arts education should place more emphasis on quantitative reasoning AND verbal reasoning, rather than most majors focusing on one or the other?

Eventually, one has to learn a trade. When do you think is the right time to end a focus on the liberal arts and focus specifically on a certain career? Are the liberal arts that one is exposed to in high school enough to be considered well rounded?

Should colleges “force” students to take a certain number of liberal arts classes? Can such mandatory classes actually make student better citizens, or do they infringe on the right of the student to study whatever he or she desires?

Why are the liberal arts so commonly degraded in terms of job prospects? Wouldn’t a liberal arts degree strongly position graduates for any writing based, analytical career? There seems to be a myriad of different career opportunities a liberal arts education prepares one for.  Can this idea that a liberal arts degree is inferior to a technical degree when it comes to jobs be viewed as a kind of self-fulfilling myth?