Career Paths

The decision to attend college is often framed as a choice between pursuing a liberal arts education as opposed to gaining practical job skills. Leading academics worry that this framing puts pressure on colleges and universities to water down their offerings—attaining a liberal arts degree, they contend, remains worth it in the long run.

The Liberal Arts and Presidential Leadership

By Nannerl O. Keohane, Senior Scholar, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University, and former President of Wellesley College (1981-1993) and Duke University (1993-2004)

Liberal arts (and sciences) are the best possible preparation for success in the learned professions—law, medicine, teaching—as well as in the less traditionally learned but increasingly arcane professions of business, finance, and high-tech innovation.

Are Our Colleges and Universities Failing Us?

By John Etchemendy, Provost, Stanford University

Finding a more efficient way to deliver a truly high-quality college education is extremely difficult, but is the only way to solve the cost crisis in higher education.

For What It’s Worth: The Value of a University Education

By Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania

Do universities provide private and public benefits commensurate with their private and public costs? This is a complex, but not impossible, question to answer.