A liberal arts college is an institution of higher education, most commonly found in the United States, offering programs in the liberal arts at the post-secondary level. Generally, liberal arts colleges enroll fewer students than universities, and encourage — perhaps require — students to take a substantial number of courses in topics unrelated to their vocational goals, to provide educational depth and breadth. This distinguishes liberal arts colleges from specialty colleges, which offer focused, single-discipline programs in business, engineering and technology, the trades, the fine arts, theology, etc. Increasingly, liberal arts colleges are becoming popular outside of the United States, with institutions opening in The Netherlands, Germany, Russia, and Canada, among other countries.

Liberal arts colleges focus primarily on tertiary education, and tend to emphasize interactive instruction rather than research. Full-time professors teach most courses, rather than transient teaching assistants. Generally, a full-time, four-year course of study at a liberal arts college leads students to a bachelor's degree. Several colleges offer postgraduate programs, (e.g. Middlebury, Wesleyan, Bard, Williams, and Oberlin;) however, their postgraduate enrollments remain small compared to their undergraduate enrollments, and postgraduate enrollments at research universities. Due to their relatively small size, liberal arts colleges often offer fewer courses than universities. Many remain private, residential, and expensive. Some lack the name recognition of larger universities, (excepting the Little Ivies and Seven Sisters;) however, 'top' liberal arts colleges are highly selective and compete with elite universities for students. A number of state-supported institutions also operate on liberal arts college models.

Units within research universities whose faculty and curriculum encompass the traditional liberal arts (and occasionally pure sciences) are often labeled "liberal arts colleges." Some are explicitly named a "College of Liberal Arts," or a variant such as "College of Arts and Letters" or "College of Arts and Sciences" to distinguish them from units focused on the manual arts and applied sciences. Both colloquial and professional references to "liberal arts colleges" generally refer to standalone institutions, excluding such units.

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Liberal Arts Colleges - Twitter Search

Liberal arts, agriculture colleges at Iowa State University hold budget forum|Elimination of faculty searches, .. http://oohja.com/x3Mlu
LetSimonDecide (Let Simon Decide) Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:56:06 -0000
Liberal arts, agriculture colleges at Iowa State University hold budget forum|Elimination of faculty searches, .. http://oohja.com/x3Mlu
New book in China by authors who attend US liberal arts colleges creating interest in liberal arts colleges via WSJ http://bit.ly/5vqqah
TheLawlorGroup (The Lawlor Group) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:46:34 -0000
New book in China by authors who attend US liberal arts colleges creating interest in liberal arts colleges via WSJ http://bit.ly/5vqqah
New book in China by authors who attend US liberal arts colleges creating interest in liberal arts colleges via WSJ http://bit.ly/5vqqah
johntlawlor (John T. Lawlor) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:46:34 -0000
New book in China by authors who attend US liberal arts colleges creating interest in liberal arts colleges via WSJ http://bit.ly/5vqqah
Education - Most Chinese want highest ranked universities, but some chooose small liberal arts colleges. http://pcrschool.org/news/?p=13379
educationblog (Education News) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:30:40 -0000
Education - Most Chinese want highest ranked universities, but some chooose small liberal arts colleges. http://pcrschool.org/news/?p=13379
RT @WholeVision: new: Colleges Try to Take the Stress Out of Finals: Colgate, a liberal arts school in New York, ... http://bit.ly/8rXDKf
colgateunvrsty (Colgate University) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:02:31 -0000
RT @WholeVision: new: Colleges Try to Take the Stress Out of Finals: Colgate, a liberal arts school in New York, ... http://bit.ly/8rXDKf
new: Colleges Try to Take the Stress Out of Finals: Colgate University, a liberal arts school in upstate New York, ... http://bit.ly/8rXDKf
WholeVision (Whole Vision) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:59:28 -0000
new: Colleges Try to Take the Stress Out of Finals: Colgate University, a liberal arts school in upstate New York, ... http://bit.ly/8rXDKf

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