Liberal Arts Colleges-Are they suitable for Chinese students?

Chinese students are often fixated with getting into an Ivy League or Top 25 university, many not realizing that they can obtain an equally good education at a top liberal arts college.  While they lack the name recognition of larger universities, the top liberal arts colleges are highly selective and compete with elite universities for students. But since both universities and liberal arts colleges offer undergraduate programs and award bachelor’s degrees, how are they really different?

 

Liberal arts colleges are generally smaller than regular universities, both in terms of their total student populations, but also in terms of their class sizes, as they emphasize classroom teaching as opposed to lecture-style instruction.  Additionally, liberal arts colleges generally focus solely on undergraduate education, and do not offer graduate programs.  Perhaps the most important difference lies in the fact that these schools often require their students to take a substantial number of classes in courses which do not directly relate to their majors.  They do so in order to ensure that students receive a well-rounded education.  Such an approach towards education has proved to be popular and very effective.  In fact, other countries, such as Germany, Netherlands and Canada, have recently tried to replicate the model by establishing their own liberal arts colleges.     

 

The skills required for entry level positions in China and abroad are quickly evolving towards higher-lever skill sets.  Skills such as analytical thinking, problem solving and presentation are becoming more important.  Jobs today require knowledge of more than one field and to be successful in the workplace, students require more than just a narrow body of knowledge.   Through a Liberal Arts Education, the student will gain a wide range of knowledge.  Coupled with the analytical skills that the student develops through coursework, the student who has benefited from such an educational experience will have the ability to develop his own opinions and beliefs, allowing him to succeed at work and in life.  Chinese students are beginning to appreciate the benefits of such an education and in the book, A True Liberal Arts Education, three Chinese students, Chen Yongfang, Lin Nie and Li Wan, share their first-hand experience of what it was like to be a Chinese student attending a top US liberal arts college.