Liberal Arts vs. Traditional Universities:
How Different Can They Be?
Criteria
Reputation/Popularity
Institutional Affiliation
Campus Size
Location
Cost
Programs and Majors
Liberal Arts College
(Georgia College)
Large University
(UGA)
Liberal Arts vs. Traditional Universities:
How Different Can They Be?
Criteria
Courses
Class Size
Class Style
Faculty
Grad School Preparation
Career Opportunity
Liberal Arts College
(Georgia College)
Large University
(UGA)
Liberal Arts vs. Traditional Universities:
How Different Can They Be?
Criteria
Liberal Arts College
(Georgia College)
Large University
(UGA)
Big national universities
generally have greater
name recognition and
reputation globally.
Institutional Affiliation
LACs generally lack name
recognition globally
compared to national
universities, but they may
be well-known in the U.S.
LACs are typically private.
Campus Size
LACs are generally small.
Location
Majority of LACs are
located in towns or
suburban areas; some are
in cities.
Cost
LACs have relatively higher
tuition than public
universities, but they’re
often more generous with
financial aid and
scholarships.
Programs and Majors
Undergraduate education is
the primary level in LACs offering a more traditional
and general education and
awarding most of their
degrees in the liberal arts
disciplines including social
sciences, natural sciences,
humanities, and arts.
Courses
LACs require students to
take a wide variety of
courses to give them
exposure to a variety of
liberal arts studies with a
broader base of knowledge.
In general, they don’t focus
on career-related classes
as heavily as universities
do.
Reputation/Popularity
Universities are private or
public (including state
universities).
Universities are larger than
LACs, especially state
universities.
Universities are located in
cities, rural or suburban
areas.
Public universities have
lower tuition than private
universities and LACs, but
there’re fewer financial aid
opportunities to
international students
especially in state
universities.
Universities generally
consist of graduate schools,
professional schools
(engineering, law, business,
medical, etc.) as well as
undergraduate programs.
They might be a better
choice to students who are
interested in a technical
degree with a career focus
in engineering, computer
science, or accounting, etc.
Universities focus on
students’ major with
relatively fewer general core
requirements. They offer
classes more tailored to the
students’ specific career
needs especially for those
who want to pursue a
technical career path.
Liberal Arts vs. Traditional Universities:
How Different Can They Be?
Criteria
Liberal Arts College
(Georgia College)
Class Size
LACs have small class
sizes - smaller
student/teacher ratios than
most universities.
Class Style
LACs prefer offering
seminars rather than
lectures - leading to greater
student engagement with
opportunities to speak out,
ask questions, and engage
with professors and
classmates in class and
outside of class.
Faculty
Majority of the faculty at
LACs are student-focused
and teaching-oriented.
Grad School Preparation
LACs have stronger
academic preparedness
overall. They provide
research opportunities to
their undergraduate
students. Also, because of
the close relationships
between professors and
students, it is easier to
reach out to professors and
ask for good
recommendation letters.
Having a strong relational
bond with alumni,
professors, and classmates,
students are more likely to
be referred to internships
and jobs.
Career Opportunity
Adapted from http://www.wesstudentadvisor.org
Large University
(UGA)
Universities have relatively
larger class sizes than
LACs, particularly
introductory classes with
possibly hundreds of
students.
Universities offer more
lectures than seminars
because of the large
student body. Some classes
or discussion sections are
taught by graduate students
serving as teaching
assistants (TAs).
Faculty is research-oriented
with many leading scholars
in their fields, but may be
relatively less accessible to
students.
Universities provide many
research opportunities, but
majority of them are for their
graduate students so it can
be competitive for
undergraduate students.
However, one of the
advantages is that there
may be higher chances of
being admitted to graduate
programs in the same
university.
There are more on-campus
career fairs and recruitment
events in universities.
Universities generally have
a large and influential
alumni network that could
offer students career
opportunities through
networking.