1. What are some of the goals of  a liberal arts education? What are the means by which those goals are attained, and what outcomes would you say constitute achievement of those goals? Have the goals of a liberal arts education changed in recent years with regards to many factors that include the changing economy, job market, and rise in technology incorporation into learning etc.? If yes, how so? Do you think a liberal arts education will still be relevant in the future, or do you think it will fade in importance?

2. In Greater Expectations, The Association of American Colleges and Universities suggested that liberal education must change in two ways; one of them being that “it must define itself as the best and most practical form of learning for a changing world and strive to meet that standard.” Would you agree that a liberal arts education is the best/most practical form of learning? Why or why not?

3. How does a liberal arts education serve the individual? How does a liberal arts education serve society as a whole?

4. Many would say the training a liberal arts education can provide for advancing critical thinking skills as well as oral and written communication is essential to professional success. Furthermore, the students who approach their education purely in terms of occupational preparation may deprive themselves of the opportunity to find inspiration and excel in some other area of concentration. For most students, the decision about what they should major in goes beyond an analysis of employment statistics. Choosing a major in response to a changing job market is not always the most practical or rewarding way to approach one’s undergraduate education, but many feel obligated to major in a subject that they think will appeal to more graduate/professional schools, whether or not they are interested in it or not. What is a student to do when what they want to major in conflicts with what they think they should major in?

5. Do we measure the success of the graduate’s college experience by the first job attained by the student or by a lifetime of his/her professional achievement? Americans now change jobs numerous times over a lifetime and when the jobs of tomorrow may not even exist today, how significant is preparation for a student’s first job?

6.  Do you think the phrase “study hard and you’ll get into the college of your dreams” is still applicable? If not, how can we make this more applicable?

7. Is job preparation in fact the top goal of higher education? If so, do you think a vocational certificate is worth more than a liberal arts degree in terms of leading to better jobs for students?

8. According to Jobs, Value, and Affirmative Action: A Survey of Parents about College, many parents are likely to restrict the colleges that their children apply to because the high “sticker prices” of many of the colleges scare them away. However, the article mentions that parents should be open to applying to even the most expensive schools because many colleges offer generous financial aid, but this message is not getting through to parents. Why is it that case that so many parents think this way, and why are parents unaware of the fact that colleges can give financial aid? Should this idea be publicized more to get the word out, so parents can allow their children to apply to more schools (even the highly-rated expensive institutions)?

9. When parents were asked to identify the most important reason for they child to go to college, the top answer was “to get a good job.” Answers that were associated with going to college for educational reasons were lagging. What do you think is the most important reason? Should this change the way higher education is structured in the future; and should higher education incorporate a more streamlined, job-focused approach?

10. According to the article Survey Finds that Business Executives Aren’t Focused on the Majors of Those They Hire, it appears that business executives are more interested in their new employee’s thinking, communication, problem-solving skills than their choice of undergraduate majors. Furthermore, they want higher education to ensure that every college graduate, no matter the major, achieves higher levels of education-based reasoning, research skills, and complex problem-solving skills etc. So why is it the case that “many politicians have of late been suggesting that the only way to prepare for a career is to focus on career-related majors?” Why is there such a disconnect?

11. In Humphrey’s powerpoint, it states “Today’s students will have 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.” Why is that the case? What is preventing these students from staying in a few stable jobs, and instead having such a large number of jobs?

12. If more and more people choose to attain certificates from vocational/training schools as oppose to liberal arts degrees, can we potentially be setting ourselves up for a stagnant economy in the future? Humphrey’s powerpoint suggests that the broad-range skills/capabilities developed from a liberal arts education have increasingly become the most valuable economic asset. If the economy is driven by innovation, and innovation is fostered through a liberal arts education, then what can we expect for the future of higher education and the economy (if people choose to attend more vocational schools than liberal arts institutions with the mindset that this will better prepare them for jobs)?

13. What is the best approach to solving the issue of liberal arts education vs. specific career specialization? From the Death of Liberal Arts article, it seems that obtaining a liberal arts education is still the best choice as it provides students with a broad range of necessary skills for the workplace, but students should also keep in mind that networking, good grades, and career goal-specific internships are an integral part of job preparation. Do you agree with this idea?