"Liberal Arts" Colleges and the Myth of Uniqueness

An Analysis of Baccalaureate College Mission Statements

“…Our study provides more support for the claim that college recruitment materials-in this case USMS-are intriguing primarily for their homogeneity. On the other hand, our findings conflict with Delucchi's (1997) contention that colleges with professional emphases make extensive liberal arts claims. We argue instead that few institutions in our sample made substantively inaccurate liberal arts claims.…”

“…Because Breneman's (1994) model of a liberal arts college emphasizes undergraduate teaching, we chose a proportionately equal distribution of colleges from across the five ''No graduate coexistence'' (NGC) Carnegie Foundation classifications. Our sample design paid explicit attention to the differences among BCs, particularly the fact that resource-rich and/or selective BCs generally have proven less likely than their peer institutions to adopt professional or vocational programs (Delucchi 1997;Morphew 2002). Sampling institutions across Carnegie classes therefore ensured that we simultaneously sampled colleges across the spectra of resources and selectivity.…”

“…BCs evidence stark patterns of stratification in their admission selectivity and in their fiscal health (McPherson and Schapiro 1999). Both Kushner (1999) and Delucchi (1997) found that selective institutions were less likely to offer professional programs alongside degrees in the traditional liberal arts fields than were less selective institutions. A college's fiscal resources also insulate the organization from pressures to forego its liberal arts tradition.…”

“…Within a few years, the ranks of these ''true'' liberal arts colleges appeared to have shrunk even further. Using the number of degrees conferred in particular fields as reported to The Peterson Guide, Delucchi (1997) categorized only 327 colleges as ''primarily liberal arts'' institutions.…”

Institutional Structures and Student Engagement

“…Yet institutions face pressures to move in the opposite direction, as increasing the number of professional majors may yield more tuition revenue than increasing liberal arts majors. It is no surprise that the forprofit University of Phoenix has focused on professional baccalaureate degree programs rather than the liberal arts, while one analysis found that over two-thirds of institutions claiming to focus primarily on the liberal arts (through college catalog announcements) awarded a majority of their degrees in professional fields (Delucchi, 1997). While the curriculum may appear easy to change, financial pressures may limit institutional abilities to do so.…”