A Traditional Approach
Liberal Studies is a nontraditional program. To better understand this idea, you might start by considering what is “traditional” in higher education. Traditional degrees, like English, Biology, Business Administration, etc., are perfect for students who are passionate about a specific academic discipline. To provide a strong foundation in the discipline, traditional degrees determine what courses students must take and, in some cases, the order in which they must take them. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but it may mean you end up taking courses you’d rather not take or, if you get out of sequence, that you have a hard time getting the courses you need each semester. And, by the time you complete the requirements, you may have very little room left to take electives to explore your goals and interests.
A Nontraditional Approach
Our nontraditional approach is for students who are more passionate about ideas than they are a traditional academic discipline. For example, you may be passionate about environmental issues. For some students, a traditional degree in environmental studies might serve this passion. But, if you are more intrigued by the idea of environmental issues than you are the discipline, you could explore your interest by taking courses in environmental studies, history, philosophy, anthropology, etc.
The freedom of Liberal Studies
- Recent community college graduate: our program was designed for you in 1970. We’ll let you bring as many as 72 community college hours into the program and give you the chance to broaden your knowledge and skills with a variety of advanced courses.
- Interested in a multidisciplinary degree: this is what our Boyer model is all about. Not only can you pursue your interests in many fields; you will develop an understanding of how your varied experiences result in unified degree that serves your life goals.
- Discovered that your current major isn’t for you: you can use the freedom of choosing from many electives to avoid starting back at square one when you change your major. You’ll start by considering how your completed courses fit within our Boyer model and then fill in the gaps with future courses.
- Rebooting a degree that you left unfinished: you do need to complete current requirements but with proper planning and a little advice, you may be able to simply continue where you left off.
Points of Pride
- A mission designed to expand both the person as an individual and their knowledge of the world
- A diverse interdisciplinary curriculum that offers courses in eight broad categories of learning
- A flexible degree program useful for a wide variety of careers and graduate school programs
- Opportunities to learn online and on-campus
- Online students pay e-tuition rates regardless of their residency
- Academic credit awarded for out-of-classroom life experiences through Credit for Prior Learning
- The chance to earn job experience as part of your degree through Applied Study
- A wide variety of helpful learning tools and documents to help you design your own education
- A database of online learning resources available to students and faculty
- Scholarships for LIS students