Liberal arts education (from Latinliberalis'free' and ars'art or principled practice')[1] is a traditional academic course in Western higher education, which traditionally covers the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities.[2]Liberal arts takes the termart in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically thefine arts.Liberal arts education can refer to studies in a liberal arts degree course or to a university education more generally. Such a course of study contrasts with those that are principallyvocational, professional, or technical, as well as religiously based courses.[3]
Enrollment in liberal arts degree programs has been declining in the 2010s and 2020s in the United States, in part because of a perception of worse job prospects.[5] As of 2023, liberal arts degrees holders in the United States had a median wage of 60,000 USD, as opposed to 70,000 USD for all degree holders.[6]
Before they became known by their Latin variations (artes liberales,septem artes liberales,studia liberalia),[7] theliberal arts were the continuation ofAncient Greek methods of inquiry that began with a "desire for a universal understanding."[8]Pythagoras argued that there was a mathematical (and geometric) harmony to the cosmos or the universe; his followers linked the four arts ofastronomy,arithmetic,geometry, andmusic into one area of study to form the "disciplines of themediaevalquadrivium".[9] In the 4th-century-BC Athens, the government of thepolis, or city-state, respected the ability ofrhetoric or public speaking above almost everything else.[10] Eventually rhetoric,grammar, anddialectic (logic) became the educational programme of thetrivium. Together they came to be known as theseven liberal arts.[11] Originally these subjects or skills were held byclassical antiquity to be essential for a free person (liberalis, "worthy of a free person")[12] to acquire in order to take an active part in civic life, something that included among other things participating in public debate, defending oneself in court, serving on juries, and participating in military service. While the arts of the quadrivium might have appeared prior to the arts of the trivium, by the Middle Ages educational programmes taught the trivium (grammar, logic, and rhetoric) first while the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy) were the following stage of education.[13]
Rooted in the basic curriculum – theeukuklios paideia or "well-rounded education" – of lateClassical andHellenistic Greece, the "liberal arts" or "liberal pursuits" (Latinliberalia studia) were already called so in formal education during theRoman Empire. The first recorded use of the term "liberal arts" (artes liberales) occurs inDe Inventione byMarcus Tullius Cicero, but it is unclear if he created the term.[14][15]Seneca the Younger discusses liberal arts in education from a criticalStoic point of view inMoral Epistles.[16] The exact classification of the liberal arts varied however in Roman times,[17] and it was only afterMartianus Capella in the 5th century influentially brought the seven liberal arts as bridesmaids to theMarriage of Mercury and Philology,[18] that they took on canonical form.[citation needed]
The four "scientific"artes – music, arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy – were known from the time ofBoethius onwards as thequadrivium. After the 9th century, the remaining three arts of the "humanities" – grammar, logic, and rhetoric – were grouped as thetrivium.[17] It was in that two-fold form that the seven liberal arts were studied in themedieval Western university.[19][20] During theMiddle Ages, logic gradually came to take predominance over the other parts of thetrivium.[21]
In the 12th century the iconic image –Philosophia et septem artes liberales (Philosophy and seven liberal arts)– was produced by anAlsatian nun and abbessHerrad of Landsberg with her community of women as part of theHortus deliciarum.[22] Their encyclopedia compiled ideas drawn from philosophy, theology, literature, music, arts, and sciences and was intended as a teaching tool for women of the abbey.[23] The imagePhilosophy and seven liberal arts represents the circle of philosophy, and is presented as a rosette of a cathedral: a central circle and a series of semicircles arranged all around. It shows learning and knowledge organised into seven relations, theSeptem Artes Liberales or Seven Liberal Arts. Each of these arts find their source in the Greek φιλοσοφία, philosophia, literally "love of wisdom".[22] St. Albert the Great, a doctor of the Catholic Church, asserted that the seven liberal arts were referred to in Sacred Scripture, saying: "It is written, 'Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars' (Proverbs 9:1). This house is the Blessed Virgin; the seven pillars are the seven liberal arts."[24]
In theRenaissance, the Italian humanists and their Northern counterparts, despite in many respects continuing the traditions of the Middle Ages, reversed that process.[25] Re-christening the old trivium with a new and more ambitious name:Studia humanitatis, and also increasing its scope, they downplayed logic as opposed to the traditional Latin grammar and rhetoric, and added to them history, Greek, and moral philosophy (ethics), with a new emphasis on poetry as well.[26] Theeducational curriculum of humanism spread throughout Europe during the sixteenth century and became the educational foundation for the schooling of European elites, the functionaries of political administration, the clergy of the various legally recognized churches, and the learned professions of law and medicine.[27] The ideal of a liberal arts, or humanistic education grounded inclassical languages and literature, persisted in Europe until the middle of the twentieth century; in the United States, it had come under increasingly successful attack in the late 19th century by academics interested in reshaping American higher education around the natural and social sciences.[28][29]
Similarly,Wilhelm von Humboldt'seducational model inPrussia (now Germany), which later became the role model for higher education also in North America, went beyond vocational training. In a letter to the Prussian king, he wrote:
There are undeniably certain kinds of knowledge that must be of a general nature and, more importantly, a certain cultivation of the mind and character that nobody can afford to be without. People obviously cannot be good craftworkers, merchants, soldiers or businessmen unless, regardless of their occupation, they are good, upstanding and – according to their condition – well-informed human beings and citizens. If this basis is laid through schooling, vocational skills are easily acquired later on, and a person is always free to move from one occupation to another, as so often happens in life.[30]
The philosopherJulian Nida-Rümelin has criticized discrepancies between Humboldt's ideals and the contemporary European education policy, which narrowly understands education as a preparation for the labor market, arguing that we need to decide between "McKinsey and Humboldt".[31]
The modern use of the termliberal arts consists of four areas: the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, andhumanities. Academic areas that are associated with the term liberal arts include:
For example, the core courses for Georgetown University'sDoctor of Liberal Studies program[32] cover philosophy, theology, history, art, literature, and the social sciences.Wesleyan University'sMaster of Arts in Liberal Studies program includes courses in visual arts, art history,creative and professional writing, literature, history, mathematics, film, government, education, biology, psychology, and astronomy.[33]
In the United States, liberal arts colleges are schools emphasizing undergraduate study in the liberal arts.[36] The teaching at liberal arts colleges is oftenSocratic, typically with small classes; professors are often allowed to concentrate more on their teaching responsibilities than areprofessors at research universities.[37]
Science and mathematics are integral to four-year liberal arts colleges, and indeed their graduates have been demonstrated to be more likely to apply to graduate school in science and mathematics than their peers and make up a higher proportion of National Academy of Science members than would usually be expected for the number of science and mathematics graduates produced by an institution.[38]
The movement's intellectual roots lie inCharles William Eliot’sHarvard Classics (1909) and inJohn Erskine’s “General Honors” course at Columbia (1919), where primary texts replaced survey textbooks.[45] Erskine's colleaguesMortimer J. Adler andRobert Maynard Hutchins exported the seminar model to Chicago in 1931, contending that sustained engagement with classic works would provide a common stock of ideas essential to democratic citizenship.[46]
In 1937St. John's College radically shifted its curriculum to focus on theGreat Books of the Western World, aiming to provide a form of liberal arts education that stood apart from increasingly specialized nature of higher education.[47][48] This new approach emphasized a broad-based education rooted in classical texts from philosophy, literature, science, and other disciplines, in contrast to the growing trend toward technical and vocational training in universities.
Hutchins, Adler and labour organiser Henry Johnson founded the nonprofit Great Books Foundation in 1947 to sponsor adult discussion groups nationwide.[45]
In 1952,Encyclopædia Britannica published a 54 volume set titled theGreat Books of the Western World under the direction ofRobert Hutchins andMortimer Adler. This work was designed to serve as a comprehensive anthology of the foundational texts of Western civilization, spanning authors from Homer and Plato to Shakespeare and Newton. The collection aimed to promote critical thinking and engagement with the ideas that have shaped Western thought.
During the cultural upheavals of the 1960s the movement attracted criticism for privileging Euro-American male authors and for treating texts ahistorically. Louis Menand observes that its classroom practice “positioned itself against the grain of academic disciplinary paradigms,” thereby provoking recurring disputes over expertise and identity politics.[49] Journalists likewise questioned its relevance: a 1992Washington Post profile of St. John's dubbed the college “the ultimate anachronism” for focusing on “dead white men,” even as it praised graduates’ analytical skills.[50]
In 1990, a second edition was released, expanding the collection to 60 volumes and updating its content to reflect more contemporary works and scholarship.
Amid concern over declining humanities enrolments, aChronicle of Higher Education survey in 1999 identified eleven new or revitalised great-books programmes at U.S. campuses, often launched with support from the National Association of Scholars.[51] Many such curricula now incorporate works by women and non-Western authors, while advocates argue that juxtaposing, for example,Homer andToni Morrison demonstrates the canon's adaptability to diverse classrooms.[49]
In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in the Great Books and the broader Liberal Arts tradition within some contemporary Muslim educational institutions. Notably, neo-traditional Muslim scholars likeShaykh Hamza Yusuf andShaykh Abdal Hakim Murad (also known as Tim Winter) have advocated for incorporating the study of these classical works into the curriculum. These scholars emphasize that Muslims historically engaged deeply with the classical liberal arts, particularly the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy), both of which are foundational to the Western liberal arts tradition.
Institutions likeZaytuna College in the United States and theCambridge Muslim College in the United Kingdom have integrated elements of the Great Books and the liberal arts into their educational models, fostering a greater appreciation for the interconnectedness of intellectual traditions across cultures. These colleges encourage students to study classical Islamic texts alongside Western works, fostering a holistic education that draws on both Islamic and Western intellectual heritage. The engagement with the trivium and quadrivium in these institutions highlights the enduring value of liberal arts education, not only in Western contexts but also within broader, more global educational traditions.
Great-books seminars remain core requirements at Columbia, Chicago and St. John's, underpin discussion groups run by the Great Books Foundation, and inform executive-education offerings at the Aspen Institute.[48][49] Supporters contend that shared inquiry into enduring questions fosters civic deliberation, whereas detractors view the canon as an exclusionary relic. The debate itself confirms the movement's enduring cultural resonance.[45]
Triumph of St.Thomas & Allegory of the Sciences by Andrea di Bonaluto. Frasco, 1365–68, Basilica di S. Maria Novella.
In most parts of Europe, liberal arts education is deeply rooted. In Germany, Austria and countries influenced by their education system it is called 'humanistische Bildung' (humanistic education). The term is not to be confused with some modern educational concepts that use a similar wording. Educational institutions that see themselves in that tradition are often aGymnasium (high school, grammar school). They aim at providing their pupils with comprehensive education (Bildung) to form personality with regard to a pupil's own humanity as well as their innate intellectual skills.[citation needed] Going back to the long tradition of the liberal arts in Europe, education in the above sense was freed fromscholastic thinking and re-shaped by the theorists of theEnlightenment; in particular,Wilhelm von Humboldt. Since students are considered to have received a comprehensive liberal arts education atgymnasia, very often the role of liberal arts education in undergraduate programs at universities is reduced compared to the US educational system.[citation needed] Students are expected to use their skills received at thegymnasium to further develop their personality in their own responsibility, e.g. in universities' music clubs, theatre groups, language clubs, etc. Universities encourage students to do so and offer respective opportunities but do not make such activities part of the university's curriculum.[citation needed]
In France,Chavagnes Studium, a Liberal Arts Study Centre in partnership with the Institut Catholique d'études supérieures, and based in a former Catholic seminary, is launching a two-year intensive BA in the Liberal Arts, with a distinctively Catholic outlook.[61] It has been suggested that the liberal arts degree may become part of mainstream education provision in the United Kingdom, Ireland and other European countries. In 1999, the European College of Liberal Arts (now Bard College Berlin) was founded in Berlin[62] and in 2009 it introduced a four-year Bachelor of Arts program in Value Studies taught in English,[63] leading to an interdisciplinary degree in the humanities.[citation needed]
In England, the first institution[64] to retrieve and update a liberal arts education at the undergraduate level was theUniversity of Winchester with their BA (Hons) Modern Liberal Arts program which launched in 2010.[64] In 2012,University College London began its interdisciplinaryArts and Sciences BASc degree (which has kinship with the liberal arts model) with 80 students.[65] In 2013, theUniversity of Birmingham created the School of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, home of a suite of flexible 4-year programs in which students study a broad range of subjects drawn from across the university, and gain qualifications including both traditional Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, but also novel thematic combinations linking both areas.[66]King's College London launched the BA Liberal Arts, which has a slant towards arts, humanities and social sciences subjects.[67] TheNew College of the Humanities also launched a new liberal education programme. Richmond American University London is a private liberal arts university where all undergraduate degrees are taught with a US liberal arts approach over a four-year programme.Durham University has both a popular BA Liberal Arts and a BA Combined Honours in Social Sciences programme, both of which allow for interdisciplinary approaches to education. TheUniversity of Nottingham also has a Liberal Arts BA with study abroad options and links with its Natural Sciences degrees.[68] In 2016, theUniversity of Warwick launched a three/four-year liberal arts BA degree, which focuses on transdisciplinary approaches andproblem-based learning techniques in addition to providing structured disciplinary routes and bespoke pathways.[69] And for 2017 entry UCAS lists 20 providers of liberal arts programmes.[70]
InScotland, the four-year undergraduateHonours degree, specifically theMaster of Arts, has historically demonstrated considerable breadth in focus. In the first two years of Scottish MA and BA degrees students typically study a number of different subjects before specialising in their Honours years (third and fourth year).
The Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA), a private institution located in theOld Town ofBratislava,Slovakia, is the firstliberal arts college in Central Europe and has been granting three-year degrees since its opening in September 2006.[71]
The Commission on Higher Education of thePhilippines mandates a General Education curriculum required of all higher education institutions; it includes a number of liberal arts subjects, including history, art appreciation, and ethics, plus interdisciplinary electives. Many universities have much more robust liberal arts core curricula; most notably, theJesuit universities such asAteneo de Manila University have a strong liberal arts core curriculum that includes philosophy, theology, literature, history, and the social sciences.
In India, there are many institutions that offer undergraduate UG or bachelor's degree/diploma and postgraduate PG or master's degree/diploma as well as doctoral PhD and postdoctoral studies and research, in this academic discipline.
Campion College is aRoman Catholic dedicated liberal arts college, located in the western suburbs of Sydney. Founded in 2006, it is the first tertiary educational liberal arts college of its type in Australia. Campion offers a Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts as its sole undergraduate degree. The key disciplines studied are history, literature, philosophy, and theology.[75]
The Millis Institute is the School of Liberal Arts at Christian Heritage College located in Brisbane. Founded by Dr. Ryan Messmore, former President of Campion College, the Millis Institute offers a Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts in which students can choose to major in philosophy, theology, history or literature. It also endorses a 'Study Abroad' program whereby students can earn credit towards their degree by undertaking two units over a five-week program at theUniversity of Oxford. As of 2022, Elizabeth Hillman is currently the President of the Millis Institute.[76]
A new school of Liberal Arts has been formed in theUniversity of Wollongong; the new Arts course entitled 'Western Civilisation' was first offered in 2020. The interdisciplinary curriculum focuses on the classic intellectual and artistic literature of theWestern tradition. Courses in the liberal arts have recently been developed at theUniversity of Sydney[77] and theUniversity of Notre Dame.[78]
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^Tubbs, Nigel (2014).Philosophy and Modern Liberal Arts Education: Freedom is to Learn. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 1.ISBN978-1-137-35891-2.OCLC882530818.
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^Curtius, Ernst Robert (1973) [1948].European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages. Translated by Trask, Willard R. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 37.ISBN9780691097398.The classical sources include Cicero,De Oratore, I.72–73, III.127, andDe re publica, I.30.
^Castle, E.B. (1969).Ancient Education and Today. p. 59.
^Kimball, Bruce (1995).Orators and Philosophers. New York: College Entrance Examination Board. p. 13
^G. Norton ed.,The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism Vol 3 (1999)p. 46 and pp. 601–4
^Paul Oskar Kristeller,Renaissance Thought II: Papers on Humanism and the Arts (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1965), p. 178.
^Charles G. Nauert,Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (New Approaches to European History) (Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 172–173.
^Bod, Rens;A New History of the Humanities, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014.
^Adler, Eric;The Battle of the Classics: How a Nineteenth-Century Debate Can Save the Humanities Today, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020, p. 59.
^As quoted in Profiles of educators: Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835) by Karl-Heinz Günther (1988),doi:10.1007/BF02192965
^Carlson, Scott (19 November 1999)."A Campus Revival for the Great Books".The Chronicle of Higher Education. Vol. 46, no. 13. pp. A18 –A20. Retrieved1 August 2025.
^"About Franklin".Franklin University Switzerland Official Web Site. Franklin University Switzerland. Archived fromthe original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved3 July 2014.
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Otto Willmann."The Seven Liberal Arts". InThe Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. Retrieved 13 August 2012. "[Renaissance] Humanists, over-fond of change, unjustly condemned the system of the seven liberal arts as barbarous. It is no more barbarous than the Gothic style, a name intended to be a reproach. The Gothic, built up on the conception of the old basilica, ancient in origin, yet Christian in character, was misjudged by the Renaissance on account of some excrescences, and obscured by the additions engrafted upon it by modern lack of taste... That the achievements of our forefathers should be understood, recognized, and adapted to our own needs, is surely to be desired."
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