1. Consider a scenario where a person gets a vocational education, with no liberal arts components whatsoever. She gets a job, then gets fired and can’t get work. Given a scenario like this, which probably happens a lot, can this be seen as the major reason for a liberal arts education? Should the liberal arts be seen as the foundation for a specific area of study?

2. In that parents’ survey, nearly 40% state that the most important reason for a child to go to college is to get a good job. Is this feeling (which will only grow over time) be the reason for the demise of the liberal arts education or do other factors come into play?

3. In the parents’ survey, about 45% strongly agree that vocational school is the pathway to a good job, about 32% strongly agree that not going to college is the pathway to a good job, and about 28% strongly agree that a liberal arts college is the pathway to a good job. Why does the liberal arts come in last place, even after ‘not going to college at all’? Has the reputation of a liberal arts college diminished that much already?

4. Since many employers are looking for candidates with a well-rounded education, where she can read, write, solve problems, and have many other capabilities, can the liberal arts college be seen as a road to this kind of candidate? A liberal arts university is really the only type of institution of higher education that can grant these capabilities to its students. With these notions of a good potential candidate, why is the liberal arts college still diminishing?

5. In the “Death of Liberal Arts” article, it is stated that “the number of liberal arts colleges dwindled from 212 in 1990 to 136 in 2009.” At this rate, there will soon be only a handful of liberal arts colleges in America. What can these colleges do in order to attract more applicants and keep their doors open?

6. Consider a scenario where a student graduates with a degree in the liberal arts. She later decides that she wants to pursue a career which needs a lot of technical know-how, a career where she would have needed to take many an appropriate class while in college. In this case, can the liberal arts be seen as an obstacle to her success? For a person like this, what are the benefits of the liberal arts?