A liberal art's degree differs from vocational studies in ways of a well-rounded mind set of the outward world, not just highlighting on the one trade. In today's economy can we really justify the cost of a liberal arts degree versus the total amount of knowledge we can apply to?
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 09:48:09 am
I could not agree more. A liberal art's degree covers a wide variety of subjects like science, English, mathematics, linguistics. Saying it is not necessary is like saying oxygen is not necessary for life.
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 09:50:45 am
Also, there are colleges that do not charge admission fees and programs, such as financial aid, to help with fees. So, cost should not be an issue.
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 09:51:11 am
Also, there are some colleges that do not charge admission fees and programs, such as financial aid, to help with fees. So, cost should not be an issue.
Jasom Evans
10/24/2013 09:53:27 am
ignore the last one
Brandon Alexander
10/24/2013 10:22:13 am
Is money used now money saved in the future? Or is saved money now hurtful in future endeavors?
Virginia Stewart
10/24/2013 10:33:58 am
Jason, you said that well. It is an appetizer for learning. It is a way to learn many things and to find out just exactly what is the most fascinating to you. My Liberal Arts degree taught me that I loved literature, history and law as well as education which I did as a minor with English. I remember being so happy that I was reading works by philosophers .....people I had never heard of before, who had shaped our thinking!
megan moxley
10/24/2013 11:35:41 am
I completely agree with Jason. A liberal art's degree is a very useful tool.
madi faulk
10/24/2013 02:37:14 pm
I agree with Jason a liberal arts degree is important to have. it covers almost every subject.
Rachael Schock
10/24/2013 03:26:44 pm
I completely agree. A BA degree does cover a variety of subjects and more that would help prepare you for events in one's daily life. Perhaps it could even cover a subject you previously wanted to learn and would push you to pursue that field as well. Doing so with a liberal arts degree would benefit you in the best way possible.. but then there is the question of whether or not you are in a proper financial state for such a thing.
Brandon Alexander
10/24/2013 10:23:41 am
If people worry about saving money and not taking extra classes do you think that that money is worse spent on other entities?
Brandon Alexander
10/24/2013 10:24:49 am
I believe it is good to keep in mind that the author also has some personal bias due to him being the president of liberal arts.
Virginia Stewart
10/24/2013 10:35:23 am
Brandon, you are so correct. He is a liberal arts major and is invested in his college for liberal arts.... he is biased. That is important to note when reading an article... This is called pathos...what is the interest of the author.
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 10:45:27 am
Thought this is true, Brandon, in order for him to be a good president of the college, he would have to leave bias out in many situations. So, although he is the president of liberal arts, this fact should not matter in the article.
Mack Rhine
10/24/2013 11:28:22 am
I would definitely say that it does matter. A biased article sways their opinion to their advantage. They leave out the entire spectrum to the one shade. This is why I find it hard to enjoy a biased article, I am not learning everything I can about what they are talking about.
Rachael Schock
10/24/2013 03:30:36 pm
I'll have to disagree with Mack on that one. Although the author is trying to show the reader what is great about a BA degree, he states misconceptions that have been created and clears up the rumors. For example, he does admit that a liberal arts degree is an expensive major to pursue, but then goes on to say how it could be used to one's advantage in a better way than a career education.
Camille Maraj
10/24/2013 11:23:38 am
Many businesses work the statistics and graphs towards their advantage, to make their business/school seem the very best. How do we know that this author is not? Also, the author only stated the benefits, not the problems or flaws with getting a liberal arts degree. The whole picture is not shown in this article.
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:31:24 am
I agree there is a bias feel to this article. Its difficult to come up with an opinion with out all the facts especially without the flaws being mention.
Camille Maraj
10/24/2013 11:37:06 am
The only negativity the article has about liberal-arts colleges is that, "Efficiency is hardly the leading quality of liberal-arts colleges, and indeed, their financial model is increasingly coming into question." But the author quickly dismisses it and moves on to state a statistic that he thinks redeems it.
megan moxley
10/24/2013 11:43:08 am
I annotated that the author was extremely biased and it would have been a more interesting article if it were written by an employer that is looking for a employee with a liberal art's degree or someone that wishes they got one because it would have benefited them.
Jenna Hunter
10/24/2013 03:42:02 pm
I agree, he probably is very bias. This also made me realize something else. Though he may be bias because he is the president of liberal arts, but he also has a lot information. Great, trustworthy information actually. I am mean he is the president of liberal arts. He better know what he is taking about. If you ignore the bias part you can see hard facts. Then if you want you can research the other side. When reading articles, I agree to always keep in mind who wrote the article.
Darby McMahon
10/24/2013 11:23:35 am
I agree with Brandon. Since the author is the president of liberal arts he is going to try to make liberal arts sound better than it really is.
Darby McMahon
10/24/2013 11:25:58 am
I also agree with Jason when you said that saying liberal arts is not necessary is like saying we do not need oxygen.
Ian
10/24/2013 11:43:47 am
Darby a liberal arts degree is not necessary because there is many other ways to get through in society a little Arts degree is merely a general overview of college education involving a little bit of everything
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:35:32 am
Darby the author isn't necessarily trying to make a liberal arts degree sound better he simply not stating all stating all the flaws.
megan moxley
10/24/2013 11:53:49 am
I agree that there are down sides to the LA degree and that he doesn't states any of the flaws.
Gabriel Campos
10/24/2013 11:48:14 am
I agree with Brandon and Darby. The author being the president of liberal arts, why would he ruin his time saying bad things about it? He going to make liberal arts seem like a perfect thing to go for.
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 11:34:23 am
I will concede that the article is biased based on the fact that the author of a liberal arts college.
Jason Evans
10/24/2013 11:35:07 am
Oops *author is the president of....*
Mack Rhine
10/24/2013 11:49:27 am
I wanna quote this one sentence the author wrote. "Though immersion in liberal arts, students learn not just to make a living, but also to live a life rich in values and character". I wanted to get someone else's opinion. To me, you can build character and values on you own time, someone doesn't need to get a degree to say that they have values.
megan moxley
10/24/2013 11:59:36 am
I agree with Mack. Values and character come naturally and we don't need a degree for that....but i think the author ment to have a better understanding of why we value certain things and how are character is shaped.
Darby McMahon
10/24/2013 11:59:58 am
I agree with Mack, you don't need a degree to tell you you have values you should already know what your values are.
Camille Maraj
10/24/2013 12:02:07 pm
I agree, you do not need a degree to have "a life rich in values and character". Everyone values something, and everyone has a unique character. If the classes are about learning how to have values and your character like the author states, then I do not think they are useful.
Kayla Smedley
10/24/2013 12:19:41 pm
I really like that Mack. I think that we can decide by ourselves what we should and should not value. Why would we need to go to college to learn those things. It's something that should just come to you.
Joseph DiGeronimo
10/24/2013 01:01:40 pm
Mack, I agree. Someone does not need their degree to have values.
Rachael Schock
10/24/2013 03:35:05 pm
I agree that one does not need a degree to develop values. But perhaps a BA degree just enhances one's ability to gain proper values and characteristics that would help you succeed in one's life. One may have their own characteristics and values but that does not mean they are ones that would benefit them.
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:54:38 am
"There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance."
- Ali ibn Abi-Talib
This a quote that in found online about education i believe it applies well to the Liberal Arts
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:17:16 pm
Ian, I really liked the quotes you used. Not only this one, but the other ones as well. Great job.
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:54:47 am
"There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance."
- Ali ibn Abi-Talib
This a quote that in found online about education i believe it applies well to the Liberal Arts
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:54:54 am
"There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance."
- Ali ibn Abi-Talib
This a quote that in found online about education i believe it applies well to the Liberal Arts
Jenna Hunter
10/24/2013 03:21:29 pm
I agree thats a good quote, Ian. In the long run, I believe a Liberal Arts degree is worth the cost. No matter your major or job, all people should be well-rounded and know a certain amount of general information. Ignorance really makes you feel like you have nothing.
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:55:30 am
"There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance."
- Ali ibn Abi-Talib
This a quote that in found online about education i believe it applies well to the Liberal Arts
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 11:55:36 am
"There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance."
- Ali ibn Abi-Talib
This a quote that in found online about education i believe it applies well to the Liberal Arts
megan moxley
10/24/2013 12:01:59 pm
Ian, that is an interesting quote in favor of LA degree
ian
10/24/2013 12:21:49 pm
Havibng issues with lag
ian
10/24/2013 12:22:33 pm
*Having*
Joseph DiGeronimo
10/24/2013 01:18:04 pm
I think this is a good quote that strongly relates to the Liberal Arts.
Darby McMahon
10/24/2013 12:09:07 pm
Does anyone consider or want to get a liberal arts degree?
Mack Rhine
10/24/2013 12:25:21 pm
I guess the question could go down to if someone wants to make a profession out of something they can do on their own time.
Brandon Alexander
10/24/2013 12:14:06 pm
His writing style is similar to mine, I may have to steal a look at this on future articles
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 12:17:02 pm
"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
- Lao Tzu
Is the liberal arts really teaching people practical knowledge
Kayla Smedley
10/24/2013 12:26:42 pm
Though I personally would not go for a Liberal Arts degree, i can see how it can be helpful in the future. I also have always liked that quote, if you just hand something to someone, it will only help them temporarily. Teach them the basics of what they need and they can keep doing it forever, making the short term solution, long term.
Kayla Smedley
10/24/2013 12:31:42 pm
In the article it says something about people having the misperception that a LA degree is useless because out of college it is harder to get a job. While it may look like that, keep in mind that the economy has been lousy and employers may not be looking for people with that type of degree.
Savanna Guertin
10/24/2013 02:45:50 pm
However, Kayla in the article it states that employers are looking for people with the traits of a liberal arts degree, but then it indicates that it is difficult to get a job with a liberal arts degree so it is starting to confuse me.
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 12:35:31 pm
I also wondered if one person tried to learn everything a Liberal Arts degree he wouldn`t he have issues with trying to learn it all describing this issue with a quote
"If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both."
- Native American saying
Ian Balogh
10/24/2013 12:45:40 pm
*in a liberal arts wouldn`t he have issues trying to to learn it all*
Joseph DiGeronimo
10/24/2013 01:06:45 pm
I was just wondering, does anyone here want to get a LA degree?
Adrian Santillan
10/24/2013 01:37:29 pm
Well Joseph I considered it after reading this article but after better understanding of a liberal arts degree I would not because there are just not that many job opportunities for the degree.
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:21:44 pm
I do not want to get a liberal arts degree. If i had nothing else to do then maybe but I would want to major in something that is worth the amount of money your going to be paying. In my personal opinion I think a liberal arts degree is not worth the amount of money you will spend.
Isaiah Adams
10/24/2013 01:15:02 pm
Well Joseph personally I do not want an LA degree but if I did it would not mean anything if I couldn't find a job for for that degree.
Isaiah Adams
10/24/2013 01:16:49 pm
This article has also showed me that education is a huge part in everyone's life but the chances to use that education is slipping away.
Savanna Guertin
10/24/2013 02:41:40 pm
I strongly agree with you Isaiah that everyone is being persuaded to get a good education, the problem is though that even with a good education it is difficult for people to go and get a high paying job with it.
Ryan D.
10/24/2013 01:17:09 pm
In reference to Misperception No. 2, you obviously don't hire someone to work as a world-famous chef with a computer science major. Nope. Not at all. You want to hire that guy to work for a company (like Microsoft and stuff).
Because a programmer doing a chef's job is just wrong.
Isaiah Adams
10/24/2013 01:22:39 pm
Ryan that makes perfect sense! These jobs for like you said, a programmer is starting to have no choice but to choose a job as jobs are taken quickly.
Adrian Santillan
10/24/2013 01:31:50 pm
In reference to misperception No.4 I agreed with the fact that these days a liberal arts degree will not cut it. Like the article says, the action is in science, technology, engineering and math.
Nathaniel Nun3z
10/24/2013 01:42:31 pm
I agree with Adrian on Misperception No.4 because like Adrian said, a liberal arts degree will not cut it. The higher jobs are in Science, technology, engineering and math.
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 01:50:44 pm
Nate? Are you sure that vocational studies are all that is needed in higher workforces... I'm sure you wouldn't want a surgeon to operate you if he cannot explain in modern words what he is going to do to you..
Mae Sandhu
10/24/2013 02:14:11 pm
The article also says that many skills that jobs look for most of the time are skills that Liberal Arts majors have and that proves that the liberal arts degree is not a complete waste of time..
Gabriel Campos
10/24/2013 05:46:03 pm
I agree with Nate and Adrian on Misperception 4 on that a liberal arts degree is not worth your time and personally i would not get a liberal arts degree because like Nate and Adrian said the higher jobs are in Science, Technology, Math. And Engineering
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 01:46:25 pm
Yes Jason that is exactly what I meant when you gave the analogy if liberal arts degree being to oxygen! What good is a PhD in engineering or archaeology if you cannot properly articulate your findings, theories, etc to the public without proper public speaking skills and well spent vocabulary, all of which comes from the basis of a liberal arts degree.
Nathaniel Nun3z
10/24/2013 01:48:35 pm
"It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education is a liberal arts college is not learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks." - Albert Einstein
I found this quote interesting because this is a view from a different perspective. What does this quote mean to you?
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 01:52:27 pm
Did you just contradict yourself? What happened to saying a liberal arts degree doesn't cut it?
Adrian Santillan
10/24/2013 01:58:56 pm
I think that Nathaniel was just trying to show that there could be possible advantages to getting a liberal arts degree. that is just my opinion I am not trying to speak for him
Adrian Santillan
10/24/2013 01:56:32 pm
Well Nathaniel to me this quote means that college is not just to learn facts we can use books and that the liberal arts degree could help with learning and help improve the mind, not to mention that a liberal arts degree helps us learn things that textbooks just can't
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 02:00:28 pm
Adrian, I agree with your comment to some extent; however the issue with this is that in today's job market lots of employers look for specific skills; a liberal arts degree is good BUT general....so a potential employer may not know where to place a person with a liberal arts degree and this can make it hard to obtain employment.
Mae Sandhu
10/24/2013 02:20:50 pm
This quote, to me, means that the education of liberal arts is not only reading books and learning facts.. But creating your own opinion about things and thinking instead of reading. Asking questions, creating theories, and using your own mind are the main focus of what a liberal arts degree is all about.
.
That is just my perspective
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 01:56:37 pm
Also, A liberal arts degree is the ideal preparation for a world of change, even if the degree does not place a person nearly into one prepackage job like economics.
Nathaniel Nun3z
10/24/2013 01:58:42 pm
I did not contradcit myself. I stated me view in my first comment and i still maintain it. The point of the quote is to open of up your mind and think about it from a different stand point.
Alexis Diaz
10/24/2013 02:02:07 pm
Oh I see, so what does that quote mean to you then?
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:05:15 pm
Hello
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:15:47 pm
Although I am late and many people have stated this, I wanted to say that the article is bias.
Nathaniel Nun3z
10/24/2013 02:15:55 pm
From Albert Einstein's perspective, I think that this quote means that is not beneficial to learn things and not put them to use. In addition, what a person can take out of a Liberal Art Collge is to learn things that reading a txt book can not do. That is to challenge the mind and think in more than one way.
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:23:57 pm
I like that Nate." It is not beneficial to learn things and not put them to use." Nate would you like to get a liberal arts degree.
Elyas Chopan
10/24/2013 02:26:25 pm
I think it is that 9.4 % of students with liberal arts degree are unemployed. Although, that is not the degree that gives you the highest amount of people unemployed.
Mae Sandhu
10/24/2013 02:32:58 pm
9.4% is actually not that much compared to other things. When I heard that it was hard to liberal-arts majors to find jobs, I thought the unemployment rate would have been bigger.
Nathaniel Nun3z
10/24/2013 02:29:56 pm
It is not in my best interest at the moment, but I would like to resaerch more and go in depth with all the things that a Liberal Art Degree can benefit me with.
Mae Sandhu
10/24/2013 02:30:01 pm
In Misperception No. 7, the opening sentence is "The cost of American higher education is spiraling out of control, and liberal-arts colleges are becoming irrelevant because they are unable to register gains in productivity or to find innovative ways of doing things"
I would like to know why liberal-arts colleges are unable to gain in productivity or find innovative ways of doing things.
madi faulk
10/24/2013 02:38:52 pm
I wanted to know why I America we still use the old system of getting a liberal arts degree and other countries are using new ways.
Madi faulk
10/24/2013 02:40:17 pm
I also agree with Brandon that the article is very bias.
Savanna Guertin
10/24/2013 02:52:49 pm
I find a liberal arts degree very interesting and seems useful, but it seems like it is difficult when it comes to finding a good job that would accept someone with that degree so I am torn between a liberal arts degree being something useful in the long run or not.
Jenna Hunter
10/24/2013 03:30:51 pm
I think Misperception 5 is completely outrages. They blame people with liberal arts degree for the country's mess? How does a Liberal Arts degree link to democrats at all? Like the article said, "has nothing whatsoever to do with politics." Liberal Arts is general information degree. It gets people thinking and everyone has their own opinion.
Rachael Schock
10/24/2013 03:37:57 pm
I completely agree, Jenna. When I read that it at first reminded me of the very first few articles we read in class. Everything seemed to be all about politics and apparently it still is.
Rachael Schock
10/24/2013 03:43:11 pm
Over all, this article has left an impression on my mind. After reading it, I considered a BA degree. I think it would be extremely useful in most fields of work but I would most likely want to study something that I would love and get me a career, or as the author called it, a "career education." Depending on the career I choose, a liberal arts degree would either benefit me greatly or not much at all. So I guess that it really comes down to the financial prospect and the career you desire.
Gabriel Campos
10/24/2013 06:03:15 pm
Everyones probably asleep but i just want to add on one quote that went with the idea that liberal arts degrees are a waste of time " I do not think a liberal arts education is very important, particularly in a uncertain changing world" ~ Steve Case and this quote means that do not get a liberal arts degree because, what they offer does not guarantee you a job especially in the USA during this crisis.
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