<p>What's the difference between a LAC and a regular 4-year college?</p>
<p>One take at it: Liberal arts is not training for a profession or specific skills, but rather learning concepts and how to learn, and getting a rounded education. One idea is that you are not being trained for anything so it is a useless education today, a different concept is that you will change jobs every 3-5 years and change careers every 10-15, so it is exactly what you need for today’s work environment.</p>
<p>In general, LAC’s are preparing you well for grad school, teaching critical thinking skills, teaching communication skills, providing context and often an ethical background upon which you can specialize. In many fields however they are not preparing you directly for the job market. </p>
<p>Hope that helps. Many professors send their kids to LAC’s. On the other hand if you don’t see the benefit it can be painful, as they will ask you to stretch in areas you may not enjoy (writing for example).</p>
<p>Please repost under the College Search & Selection forum.</p>