As one approach, consider top-ranked Williams College. With an exceptionally large endowment and, currently, an 8% acceptance rate, it could choose to increase its enrollment at its discretion. Nonetheless, it has adhered to essentially the same size it has had since at least 1984.* If this represents the thoughtful application of a philosophy, perhaps Williams defines the enrollment beyond which a school begins to lose its identity as a traditional liberal arts college.
*1950 in total enrollment in 1984 compared to 1962 undergraduates today.
Same. Some forget about the quadrivium portion of liberal arts. Math and science arenāt new to liberal arts. Harvey Mudd has been a liberal arts college from its founding and it didnāt just add engineering last week.
I donāt think it would be possible to retain the intimate characteristics of an LAC if it expands beyond a certain point. Iāve always thought that enrollment of what Iāve thought of as LACs tops out at about 3000-3500 - St. Olaf was the largest that we looked at. It seems to me it would be too difficult to maintain a cohesive feeling if an LAC faculty were expanded to the size necessary to provide small classes to a much larger student body, providing a residential housing experience would become more difficult, varsity sports would become more competitive even at the D3 level and so on. It is interesting to watch the traditional LACs adapt to the market demands that you mention - my sonās school has added a data analytics major in recent years, as well as global commerce and global health. On the other hand, some students, and parents, may feel that a program of study less narrowly-focused and less geared to immediate employability in currently available jobs might be optimal over the harder-to-foresee longer term - personally, I get a queasy feeling every time I see another CS thread. So I think there is demand for both types of school. As one example, at the same time some traditional LACs are coming under pressure, we also see some large state schools launching honors programs that seem to function like in-house LACs.
I donāt think these honors programs at public flagships are set up to mimic LACs. Theyāre set up to compete with elite private universities for some of the talented students. Most of those whoāre interested in LACs are unlikely candidates for the honors programs at public universities.
Could you please give an example of a public LAC with 8000 students?
One significant factor that limits enrollment in many LACs is COA. For example, if you live in Virginia, the COA for William and Mary is about 40k. The COA for W&L is 80K.
The vast majority of students overall are studying liberal arts in larger public and private universities. Public schools like W&M offer a compelling alternative for students considering LACs.
Also, certain private universities donāt meet the USNW definition of LACs because they have Grad Schools, offer most other attributes of LACs. For example, Tulaneās School of Liberal Arts offers small class sizes, faculty-led instruction, and a low faculty-to-student ratio in line with the metrics at smaller LACs. Also, within the Tulan Liberal Arts school itself, there are no pre=professional majors.
Sometimes on CC, students or parents will say Iām looking for a LAC in an urban setting. So I will suggest a Tulane or a Wash U as schools to possibly consider.
There are other private LACs in Virginia that are much less expensive than W&L. After relatively easily obtained merit aid, Hampden-Sydney, Roanoke, Randolph-Macon and others should cost approximately the same as public universities in VA for in-state middle-class and upper-middle-class families.
As @merc81 mentioned a few posts ago, most LACs arenāt looking to significantly increase enrollment. Williams College (and W&L and countless others) could double their enrollment in one year if they decided to, but they make an active decision to maintain their enrollment levels. Cost isnāt restricting LAC enrollment - that is an overt decision of management.
This is not a bad list. A lot of them are familiar to this forum: UNC-Asheville, Mary Washington, UF-Sarasota (New College), Evergreen State, SUNY-Geneseo, Keene State, Ramapo College. They are very often mentioned as ālow-costā LACs.
To those concerned that some might think that LACs teach just humanities, it is widely known that math & science majors are part of the typical LAC offerings. I used STEM just as a shorthand method for the types of new areas of study that are in demand & growing rapidly.
To those who expressed confusion, I apologize. Unfortunately, I often have to resort to quick methods of expression as I am handling two or three matters at the same time.
While the most elite & most prestigious LACs receive a substantial number of applications each year, most LACs are very actively seeking students. This is reflected in part by any individual LACās acceptance rate.
@1NJParent: Agree that honors colleges at large public universities were designed primarily to compete with elite private National Universities. Nevertheless,due to increasing costs of higher education, many now look to large public honors colleges / programs with LAC aspects in mind (such as small intro classes & close contact with profs during oneās freshman year). But, in the now 30 years that I have been observing /dealing with public honors colleges & programs, I have never heard any discussion of concerns about, or competing with, LACs. This is natural as most of the best known honors colleges & programs are in the South which has few LACs
Thanks for your input. Not to debate it but only to try to make my point clearer. I used WM and WL specifically because they are generally considered to be peer schools academically.
Using the WSJ 2021 rankings because they include LACs, WM ranks 71 and WL 73. Roanoke ranks 363. If you were accepted into all three, I would argue that at 40k for WM, 80K for WL, and 40k for Roanoke that WM would be a compelling choice for many students and parents.
I agree with a comment made in a prior thread about how there is a continuum of schools. I think size is an important characteristic of a LAC (among many characteristics) as mentioned above in terms of intimacy of both the academic and social environment. Larger schools that still consider themselves LACs are further down the continuum from the Amherst, Williams, Colbyās towards the private national universities like the Ivies.
As to honor colleges, the ones that actually have a comprehensive academic and residential program, I think they are trying replicate the residential college type experience of national privates that have that system. The national privates that have that system (e.g. HY, Rice and to some extent P) themselves are trying to capture the LAC intimacy vibe, at least in the social aspect. I know at least H and Y make a big pitch on their residential colleges/houses as providing the intimacy of a small college with the resources and expanded opportunities of a national research university.
There are definitely LACs which are seeing declining enrollment which have to adjust their curriculum to include more preprofessional courses/majors to attract applicants. It is one thing to pay Williams at $80k a year and major in literature because there still is a good shot to land a great job somewhere vs another college where the same degree is not going to open many doors.
There have a been a few posts that have mentioned declining enrollment at LACs. Letās all remember that there are also plenty of universities struggling to fill seats and they are abundant on the NACAC list. As we all know, colleges across the board took a big hit last year, especially community colleges. Overall numbers of students entering college are declining. Fewer Students Mean Big Trouble For Higher Education : NPR
SUNY Geneseo was mentioned. Iāve been there, and it does feel like an LAC, despite its size of about 5000. As a public LAC, I donāt know if itās as well equipped as some smaller privates, but the campus is lovely and I know a lot of happy students there. I was very impressed with what I saw when I visited.
This depends on how you define LAC. For example, IPEDS shows the following degree totals for Southern Utah:
Associates Degree ā 963 Students
Bachelorās Degree ā 1210 Students
Masterās Degree ā 450 Students
Certifications ā 404 Students
It looks like only 40% of the degree recipients received BS/BA degrees. Among that 40%, ~40% pursued liberal arts degrees. So in total only ~40% * 40% = 16% of graduating students received bachelorās degrees in liberal arts fields. That seems too low for what Iād consider to be a LAC.
LAC has also been defined in terms of class size in this thread. While the vast majority of classes are under 40 students, there also a good number of classes over 50, as well as some big lectures with >100 students.
Southern Utah may have quality programs in some liberal arts fields and may not spend a lot of their budge on research, but itās not what Iād consider a LAC. Iād make similar comments for several of the other schools that have been mentioned. There isnāt a formal definition of LAC, so itās largely a matter of opinion.
That is true for many small colleges, especially those it rural settings, and is not unique to LACs. In fact the ones most hurting for enrollment are community colleges.
Small directional comprehensives are hurting even worse than LACs, but that is a case in which being a public university can help, since there is money coming on from the state, albeit not at the levels that are required to keep many of them afloat.
Itās too bad that the fact that so many smaller public universities are losing enrollment isnāt getting the attention it deserves, seeing that these universities serve a larger, and more vulnerable population that private LACs do.
I love LACs, but the population that they serve usually has other options, whereas the community colleges and smaller regional publics serve are often the only affordable and accessible option for many communities.
In general, as I wrote, maybe 3% of all students attend a LAC, and, while they have an oversize impact, they are not nearly as critical as community colleges are.
Interesting that only 3% of all college students attend an LAC. Seems about right. Recently, I had read that it was a much higher figure (15%) which I doubted.
If Southern Utah admin has defined themselves as a LAC, I havenāt seen it. As best as I can tell, Southern Utah first called themselves a LAC 50+ years ago in the 1960s, then switched to calling themselves a āuniversityā in the 1980s, after growing in size and growing in non-bachelorās programs.