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HannahFeldstein
ProfessorCynthiaMazzant
English137H
4December,2015

ShiftingGearsinEducation
Ifitaintbroke,dontfixit.Thiscommonphrasesimplystatesthatifthereisnta
problem,thenthereisnoreasontochangeanything.TheUnitedStatesliberalartseducationhas
alwaysbeenakeyelementofsuccess.ItbeganwiththefoundingofHarvardCollegein1636.
Eversince,theliberalartshavefosteredfreethinkinganddemocracy,andleadtheUnitedStates
tobecomingoneofthemostinnovativecountriesintheworld.SowhyistheAmericanliberal
artseducationundergoingashift?Iftheliberalartsthemselvesarenotbroken,thenwhychange
anything?Althoughliberalartsremainasimportantasever,Americansaregravitatingaway
fromthethem,andtowardsvocationalmajors.Thekeytothischangeismayverywellnotbe
theliberalartsthemselves,butinsteadthecomplicationspresentedbyrisingcollegetuitionand
affordability.
Thephraseliberalartseducationisverywellknown,butmanycannotpinpointa
concretedefinition.Aliberalartseducationspecificallyreferstotheacademicstudyofartsand
humanities.Ithasexistedforcenturies,andisthecoreofanundergraduateeducation.During
ancienttimes,theliberalartsweremeanttoprepareanindividualtosuccessfullyengageindaily
life(BresciaUniversity).Theywerereferredtoasthe
trivium
:grammar,rhetoric,andlogic.
Later,fournewfieldscalledthe
quadrivium
wereincluded.Thesedivisionsofstudywere

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geometry,arithmetic,music,andastronomy.DuringtheRenaissance,history,language,
literature,andphilosophywerealsoaddedtothemix(ThomasAquinasCollege).Eventhough
thedefinitionoftheliberalartshasevolvedoverthecenturies,theessenceremainsthesame.
Theystillaremeanttopromotecriticalthinkingandcommunicationskillsthatcanbeapplied
bothtoeverydaylife,andacareer.
Today,studyoptionsarevastintheliberalarts.Somecommonliberalartsmajorsinclude
history,English,communications,andpsychology.Unlikestudentsinvocationalmajorssuchas
business,nursing,orengineering,liberalartsstudentsexploreawiderangeoftopics.Abilities
suchascriticalandanalyticalthinking,communication,andevaluativeskills,whicharetaughtin
aliberalartseducation,linkthisbroadvarietyoffieldstogether.
Today,thetwomaintypesoffouryearundergraduateinstitutionsincludeliberalarts
collegesandlargeresearchuniversities.Liberalartscollegesdifferfromresearchuniversitiesin
thattheirprimaryfocusistheundergraduateeducation,whileresearchuniversitiesplacemore
emphasisontheresearchitself.Atliberalartscolleges,studentsstudyart,humanities,sciences,
andsocialsciences,buttypicallynotbusinessorengineering.Furthermore,theytendtohave
smallerclasssizesthanresearchuniversities,aremorediscussionbasedthanlecturebased,and
haveareputationofbetterpreparingstudentsforlifeaftercollege(Fang).
Recently,Americancollegestudentshaveshiftedawayfromliberalartscollegesto
researchuniversities.In1990,Dr.DavidW.Breneman,aneconomicsprofessorattheUniversity
ofVirginia,publishedapaperinwhichheusedaspecificcriteriatoanalyze540liberalarts
colleges.Heconcludedthatonly212ofthoseinstitutionsactuallymetthestandardofaliberal
artscollege.Twentyyearslater(in2010),thosesame212institutionswerereevaluated,andonly

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130remaintruetotheirname.Avastnumberofthesecollegeschangedtheircurriculaand
missionstatementsdramatically,andonlyafewactuallyshutdownormergedwithlarger
universities.Whilemanyinstitutionskeeptheirtitleofliberalartscollege,theylosetheircore
identityandshiftawayfromthetraditionalliberalartseducationstandards.Alargenumberof
liberalartscollegesnowadvertisethemselvesassimplymeanstoacareer,insteadofdescribing
howstudentswilldevelopcreativity,analyticalskills,anddeepthinking(Jaschik).These
collegesthatlabelthemselvesasliberalartsmaybeshiftingawayfromthetraditionalformin
ordertoappealtomorestudents,duetoadeclineofinterestinthearts.
Atuniversitiesandcollegesasawhole,thepopularityofliberalartsmajorshasdeclined.
Thenumberofstudentsstudyinghumanitieshasexperiencedadramaticdecreaseoverthepast
severalyears,fallingsevenpercentfrom2009to2011,and2.4%from2012to2013(Bachelors
DegreesintheHumanitiesTworek).VictorE.Ferrall,Jr.formerpresidentofBeloitcollege,
whohasalsostudiedeconomicsandlaw,publishedabookthatdescribestheshiftawayfrom
liberalartstovocationalmajorsandcourses.Hefoundthatfrom1987to2008,thepercentof
studentsattopliberalartscollegeswithvocationalmajorstripled,from10%to30%.In2007,a
surveydoneoncollegeboundseniorsfoundthatonly8%thoughtavailabilityofaliberalarts
educationwasanimportantfactorinchoosingacollege,while92%respondedthatpreparation
foracareerwasvital(Ferrall).Thisshiftofinterestawayfromliberalarts,andtowards
vocationalstudiescanbeobservednotonlyatcollegesanduniversities,butalsoasearlyas
secondaryschool.
Thecostofcollegetuitionhasdrasticallyincreasedoverthepastfewdecades,which
couldbealeadingcontributortotheshiftawayfromliberalarts.CollegeBoardreportedchanges

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incollegetuition,adjustedforinflationsothatalltuitionlistingswerein20152016dollars.
During19951996,itcost$27,202peryear(includingroomandboard)toattendaprivate
college,butin20152016itcosts$43,941.Atfouryearpublicschools,from19951996to
20152016,theaveragetuitionandroomandboardrosefrom$10,552to$19,548(College
Board).Evenwithadjustmentstoinflation,collegetuition(atbothprivateandpublicinstitutions
ofhighereducation)isnearlydoublethecostonlytwentyyearsago(CollegeBoard).
Furthermore,theU.S.NewsandWorldReportprovidedstatisticsbytheLaborDepartment
showingthatthepercentchangeinconsumerpriceindex(whichmeasureschangesinprice
level)from2003to2013wasanenormous79.5forcollegetuitionand79.4fortextbooks.On
theotherhand,itwasonly5.6forwomensapparel,22.8forhousing,and31.2forfoodand
beverages(Kurtzleben).Thisillustratesjusthowdrasticallycollegetuitionhasskyrocketedwith
respecttootheritems(seefigure1).

Figure1:Consumerpriceindexofcollegetuitionandtextbookscomparedtoothergoods(U.S.
NewsandWorldReport)

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Ascollegetuitionrises,theshiftawayfromliberalartsoccurssimultaneously.Whenthe
costofeducationincreasessodramatically,peoplebegintoquestionwhetherornotcollegeis
worththecost.Afterall,sinceindividualsarepayingthousandsuponthousandsofdollarsto
attenduniversity,theywanttoensurethatthislargeinvestmentismakingthembetteroff
financially.Thisdirectscollegestudentstopickmajorsthataremorecareerorientedandhave
promisesofagoodsalary,suchasengineeringorbusiness.Thistheoryisbackedupby
economists,includingDr.Breneman,whotellstheNewYorkTimes,Thecostofcollegehas
soaredandstudentsarehavingtoborrowmore.Thesethingstendtomaketheliberalartslook
likealuxury...Wevegotawholewayofthinkingaboutcollegethatfocusesontherateof
return.Andthatdismissestheintangiblebenefits.Astuitionrises,moneybecomesamajor
concernandstudentsgravitateawayfromliberalarts.
Science,engineering,business,andotherfieldsthatfalloutsideofliberalartsare
important.However,thevastshiftfromeducationintheliberalartstovocationalfieldshasa
negativeeffect,becausetheliberalartsarestillincrediblyvaluableintodayssociety.Thejob
marketisveryunpredictable,soitmayinfactbemorepracticaltogetadegreethatpreparesone
foravarietyofjobs,notjustone.Furthermore,theaveragecollegestudentwillchangetheir
careerfifteentimesaftergraduation,soitisimportanttohaveabroadandusefulskillset
(Krislov).Aliberalartseducationfostersanumberofinvaluableabilitiesthatpreparegraduates
forsuccessinanumberoffields.Infact,somecompanieswhichrecognizetheseskillsrecruit
liberalartsgraduatesalmostexclusively(McNutt).
Globalizationincreaseseveryyear,andmanyjobsrequirethatoneinteractwithadiverse
rangeofpeople.EleanorRoosevelttoldSmithCollege,Howwellpreparedarewetoliveina

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worldthathasconstantlygrownsmallerandwherewemustrubshoulderswithpeopleof
differentcultures,ofcompletelydifferentcustomsandhabitsandreligions,wholiveunder
differentlegalsystems,whoselanguagesaredifferent?(Christ).Ascollegegraduatesarenow
expectedtofaceglobalproblemsandinteractwithawidevarietyofcultures,communication
skillsarenowmoreimportantthanever.
Ontopofthat,manyliberalartsgraduatesgoontodogreatthings.VictorE.Ferrall,Jr.
describesthevastsuccessofliberalartsgraduatesinhisbooktitled
LiberalArtsattheBrink
publishedintheHarvardUniversityPress.Eventhoughonly2%ofundergraduatesareenrolled
inaliberalartscollege,graduatesoftheseinstitutionsmakeupalargepercentageofAmericas
leaders.Infact,asignificantportionofAmericanpresidents,includingRonaldReagan,James
Buchanan,CalvinCoolidge,andThomasJefferson,allattendedliberalartscolleges.Other
notablegraduatesofliberalartscollegesincludeBobIger(CEOofWaltDisney),AldenClausen
(formerpresidentoftheWorldBank),andcountlessothers,includingnumerousnobelprize
winners.Despiteclaimsthataliberalartsdegreeisuseless,notonlymaytheybeimmensely
advantageoustotheindividualpursuingthedegree,buttheyarealsoimportantforsociety.
Aneducationalbackgroundinliberalartsisalsoverybeneficialforanindividual
workinginaSTEMfield.Overthepastfewyears,thetermSTEAMhasgraduallyemerged.
WhileSTEMstandsforScience,Technology,Engineering,andMath,STEAMincludesallof
theelementsofSTEM,alongwithart.Educationintheartshasalreadybeenshowntoimprove
performanceinSTEMsubjects.Onestudyfoundthatstudentswhotookartclassforfouryears
inhighschoolscored,onaverage,98pointshigheronthemathportionoftheSATthanthose
whotookartforhalfayearorless(UniversityofFlorida).Furthermore,skillslearnedby

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studyingtheartsarealsousefulintheworkofascientistorengineer.Theyareconstantly
requiredwritetechnicalpapers,makepresentations,andcreateblueprintsormodels,so
communicationskillsintheformofart,speaking,andwriting,areimmenselybeneficial.Some
formsofscienceandengineeringeveninvolveartdirectly.Oneexampleisorigamiengineering,
whereresearchersusepropertiesoforigami,suchasbistability(havingtwostableequilibrium
positions)andtheabilityoforigamitoexpandandcontractinordertocreatelifesavingmedical
devices,andtosendsatellitesintospace.
Mostimportantly,artsfostercreativityandcriticalthinking,whichareabsolutely
necessaryforgroundbreakingtheoriesandinnovativeproducts.Infact,asignificantportionof
themostinnovativescientistsinhistorywerealsoartists.ExamplesincludeAlbertEinstein,
LeonardodaVinci,BenjaminFranklin,andSamuelMorse.Ontopofthat,nobellaureatesinthe
scienceswereseventeentimesmorelikelythantheaveragescientisttooccupythemselveswith
visualart,twelvetimesmorelikelytowritepoetry,andfourtimesmorelikelytoplayan
instrument(Pomeroy).EventhoughpeoplewithcareersinSTEMmaynotnecessarilyviewthe
artsasbeingvaluable,theyplayahugeroleininnovation.
AscollegestudentsintheUnitedStatesgravitateawayfromtheliberalartstoday,once
Americansrealizethenegativeimpactofthischange,theprocesscouldreverse.Aprime
exampleofaneducationalculturefocusedonSTEMandvocationalstudiesisthatofAsia,where
acareerasadoctor,engineer,orscientistisheavilypraised.ItiswellknownintheUnitedStates
thatstudentsfromChinaandIndiaareoutperformingAmericanstudentsinmathandscience,
butoneseldomhearsthattheyremorecreative,communicative,orfreethinking.However,
thesecountriesarebeginningtorealizethebenefitsthataliberalartseducationprovides.Asian

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governmentshaverecentlytakennotethatinnovationisparticularlyimportantinthisera,and
theyarehopingthatiftheirscientistsarealsotrainedinthearts,theycanbecomemorecreative
individuals.Furthermore,asdemocracyleadstheway,Asiancountriesarelookingtodevelopa
liberalartseducationthatpreparesstudentsfortheevolvingworldofpolitics.Asaresult,liberal
artsprogramsarebeginningtoappearmoreandmoreatuniversitiesinChina,SouthKorea,
Singapore,andJapan(Lewis).PerhapsoncetheUnitedStatesrecognizesthisvalueofteaching
thiswayofcreative,freethinking,itwillfollowAsiaandfocusonenhancingitsliberalarts
programs.
Theliberalartsarenotbroken,noraretheyirrelevant.Theyhavefunctionedfor
centuries,andstillservetoday.Theyhaveavarietyofapplications,bothdirect,andindirect.
Nonetheless,ashiftfromliberalartstovocationalfieldsisoccurringintheUnitedStates.While
theartsthemselvesarenotflawed,therisingcollegetuitionis.Clearly,theeconomicsofcollege
tuition,andthedifferentapproachestoresolvingthisissuearequitecomplex.Despiterising
costs,itisnecessarytoremindstudentsoftheimportanceofthearts,andthevalueofaliberal
artsdegree.Eveninthefaceofadversity,theyshouldstudywhattheyarepassionateabout,and
goodat.Todaysstudentsaretomorrowsleaders,sothefutureverywelldependsuponit.

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