Can someone explain to me the difference between the two?
I was looking at a few a liberal arts college and some of them mentioned business as one of them (Skidmore), mentioned business as a prospective major.
What would be the difference between studying business here compared to doing a business program from UChicago or the normal universities?
Nothing is different if the major is offered.
A Liberal Arts College teaches only ungraduates though. A University in theory will offer graduate degrees.
Fewer liberal arts colleges offer business degrees but it has nothing to do with them being liberal arts colleges by definition. Most Ivy League schools don’t have undergraduate business studies either.
As in your other post, most LACs do not offer business degrees. Skidmore may be one of the exceptions. There is no difference in a business degree at a LAC vs one at a Uni. There may be a differences between the business degrees at individual schools but you would need to compare the actual coursework required. Where LACs and Univs offering business degrees may differ is in the reach of their alums, the placement office’s level of support for graduating students, etc…again, this is very school specific.
And University of Chicago does not offer a business major (many top universities don’t). They offer a major in economics. You are confusing the undergraduate offerings with the very well regarded graduate school of business at U of C, the classes for which are not available to undergraduates.
Oh okay… Thanks for the clarification. So for my interests, which is basically business, whether I choose an LAC or a Uni doesn’t matter… What matters is the course, the alumni, prestige etc… Am I right?
Also, both places will have the same number of electives and everything else right?
Sorry, if I’m being too naive in understanding.
That is correct. There are many good LACs for business study. Bucknell and Richmond are two excellent LACs with Business majors, for example.
“both places will have the same number of electives and everything else, right?” (3)
Programs will differ in scope and emphasis, but not necessarily because of the greater environment they are offered in. This is where further research will be necessary. Economics may edge out business as the most common major for those going on to highly rated MBA programs, and this major is more widely available at both liberal arts colleges and universities. Btw, the schools with the highest percentages of business majors can often be found in categories such as “Regional Colleges.”
–Check the curriculum of Skidmore online carefully to see if they have what you want – it does not appear to be a traditional business program with traditional business majors.
–Some LACs which offer the typical business majors are URichmond, Bucknell and Muhlenberg.
Because LACs are typically smaller than unis, they tend to offer fewer courses in all subject areas. So you will get the basics of business in a LAC or a uni - but because unis are unusually larger (at lot more students, therefore more faculty and more clsasses), you may have more courses in your area of business interest, be it marketing, finance, strategy, production, human resources or whatever. So if you are not just interested in business generally - if you have a specific area of concentration that you are interested in, you will need to check the course catalogs carefully at the LACs to see how much depth and breadth they have in those areas.
There should be no difference for undergraduates as the curriculum is very standard per AACSB accreditation. Large universities have more sections of each course because they have more students, plus you may not see an actual professor for at least a year at a large school except Notre Dame.
There are many good AACSB accredited programs at smaller schools.
To add to Happy1 I would add Villanova, Providence, Loyola Maryland and Elon to the list of LAC or LAC-like schools. Holy Cross has a capped program in finance and accounting that considered one of the best around.
What? I assure you that business classes at my large university are taught by actual professors, not just graduate students.