Great article deserves this repost.
Link to article in NYT's
A Liberal Arts Foundation
William Pannapacker, a columnist for The Chronicle of Higher Education, is an associate professor of English and director of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholars Program in the Arts and Humanities at Hope College in Holland, Mich. He is on Twitter.
UPDATED MARCH 25, 2013, 11:09 AM
There are no guarantees for young people now when it comes to using college to prepare for a job. The world is changing too quickly to make reliable predictions. Assume that you will have many careers, and that you will need to find ways to adapt your talents to the world’s needs.
I believe the best place to do that is a liberal arts college.
But they are not all the same. You should look for ones with distinctive missions that support your beliefs and aspirations. Whatever your field, consider colleges that offer programs of faculty-student collaborative research and that encourage experiential education in the workplace. Such programs allow students to become actively engaged in their own learning and prepare them to become functioning professionals — with a portfolio of real accomplishments — before they graduate.
Link to article in NYT's
A Liberal Arts Foundation
William Pannapacker, a columnist for The Chronicle of Higher Education, is an associate professor of English and director of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholars Program in the Arts and Humanities at Hope College in Holland, Mich. He is on Twitter.
UPDATED MARCH 25, 2013, 11:09 AM
There are no guarantees for young people now when it comes to using college to prepare for a job. The world is changing too quickly to make reliable predictions. Assume that you will have many careers, and that you will need to find ways to adapt your talents to the world’s needs.
I believe the best place to do that is a liberal arts college.
But they are not all the same. You should look for ones with distinctive missions that support your beliefs and aspirations. Whatever your field, consider colleges that offer programs of faculty-student collaborative research and that encourage experiential education in the workplace. Such programs allow students to become actively engaged in their own learning and prepare them to become functioning professionals — with a portfolio of real accomplishments — before they graduate.