Sheridan HendrixColumbus Dispatch
Charming campuses, small classes, courses on literature and philosophy. The picture of a private liberal arts university is what comes to mind for many when they think of the quintessential college years.
For some, it is the ideal college experience. Others see liberal arts education as a relic of the past or a punching bag for conservative political pundits. And some think it is a threat that needs to be eliminated.
The question of the liberal arts university's survival is not a new one. Skepticism about the value of a liberal arts education, the cost-of-attendance sticker shock, a renewed focus on job training and vocational schools, and the rise of artificial intelligence have all rocked the boat.
Enrollment declines and financial concerns across higher education have prompted closures of some small liberal arts colleges in recent years. Fourteen nonprofit four-year colleges across the country announced closures in 2023 alone, according to Inside Higher Ed, and mostly fit the same profile: "mostly small, private, tuition-dependent institutions with meager endowments that have seen enrollment slipping for years and have been unable to recover from those sustained losses."
Ohio is home to 53 independent colleges and universities, many of which have faced their own challenges over the past few years. Despite the headwinds, several central Ohio independent college presidents see an enduring value and flexibility in the liberal arts.
'Liberal isn't political. Arts isn't fluff.'
At Ohio Wesleyan University President Matt vandenBerg's inauguration ceremony in mid-April, a group of choral students broke out in song in the middle of his remarks. The performance, an original song called "What's in the Water?", lauded some of the university's most-esteemed alumni and was made complete with students waving blue ribbon to represent the sulphur spring OWU was built upon.
"That's the liberal arts at work right there," vandenBerg quipped after the performance.
But vandenBerg, in an interview with The Dispatch, said liberal arts is not simply about the fine and performing arts — though its name doesn't give it much help.
"Liberal isn't political. Arts isn't fluff," he said. "It's an educational philosophy. It's like going to a buffet to figure out what entrée you want."
VandenBerg, one of the new kids on the block among Ohio's private university presidents, began his tenure at the Delaware liberal arts university in July 2023.
He said he believes too many incoming college freshmen feel pressure to lock themselves into one major and one career path. A 2017 U.S. Department of Education report found that about a third of first-time college students change their major at least once within the first three years of enrollment.
"Society talks about college like it is a transaction," vandenBerg said. "It's not a transaction, it's a transition into adulthood."
That transition, he said, should make space for making mistakes and trying new things without feeling like you've wasted time or money. VandenBerg argues the liberal arts approach does just that.
Exploration is baked into Ohio Wesleyan's core curriculum, called the OWU Connection, which requires students in all majors to participate in hands-on experiences like internships, traveling and research. VandenBerg said the experiences help "robot-proof" OWU students by teaching them necessary soft skills and prepares them for careers, graduate school or whatever path they decide to pursue next.
"The liberal arts has an undervalued and misunderstood value," he said. "Every major leads to successful careers."
'We need this more than ever'
Kenyon College President Julie Kornfeld did not begin her higher education career at small liberal arts institutions.
Kornfeld, who officially joined Kenyon in June 2023 as its 20th president, previously held leadership roles at Columbia University and the University of Miami. But all three of her children — Dylan, Morgan and Ely — were educated at liberal arts colleges. Seeing their education in and out of the classroom, she said, led her to liberal arts.
"We're at a moment where I think we need this more than ever," Kornfeld said.
Kenyon, located in the Knox County village of Gambier, enrolled 1,754 students this fall, many of whom are out-of-state and international students.
A scientist by trade, Kornfeld said the data is clear: "A bachelor's degree is the ticket to social mobility."
A long-term study published in 2020 from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforcefound that a liberal arts education provides a remarkably high return on investment over one's career. Researchers said that, though short-term earnings may be less than their peers, the 40-year median ROI (return on investment) of liberal arts institutions was $918,000.
Only doctoral universities with the two highest levels of research activity, which includes schools like Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earned more.
Kornfeld said she doesn't think the major one selects is the most important indicator of what one does in the long run. She thinks it's more important to answer, "What is college really for?"
"We're training people to live in an increasingly complex world," she said. "It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. We are training people how to think."
Kornfeld said as workplaces seek out people who know how to work in diverse environments, communicate well and think deeply, liberal arts educations will continue to matter.
As central Ohio grows, Kornfeld said she and others at Kenyon are thinking more about partnerships to "expand what kinds of students we draw and prepare for broader participation in the workforce."
"I am excited to draw new pathways," she said. "I'm not here to say one path is better than another, but I'm here because I believe in this model."
Surviving means liberal arts core with professional programs too
Otterbein University President John Comerford believes diversity of institutions is a strength of American higher education. Where European universities tend to be more career specific, he said, students in the United States have more variety to choose from, both in types of institutions and courses they can take.
The breadth should be a boon. But as the country is facing an enrollment cliff, Comerford said Ohio, like many states, has "too many seats and too many schools." Many students are looking for "majors that sound like jobs," he said.
"Nursing and engineer majors become nurses and engineers, but the jobs for history and sociology majors might not be totally clear," Comerford said. "To some, that means those programs don't matter."
Otterbein, located in Westerville, enrolled 2,357 students last fall. It is one of many independent universities in Ohio that has a liberal arts core but also offers professional programs. Comerford said that balance is good for a number of reasons.
For one, it means well-rounded students. "We don't want students to put all their eggs in one basket," he said.
That means undergraduate students are required to take a breadth of classes. Future doctors will be enrolled in poetry classes. Engineering majors will learn about political science. And they will be richer for having taken them, Comerford said.
But it's also about survival. While many private universities today also offer professional programs, Comerford said there are some that firmly hold "the purity of the liberal arts is most important" and balk at the idea of combining the two.
"That culture has held some back, probably to their detriment," he said.
Otterbein, and others like it, are trying to expand its offerings to more students. The university recently partnered with Antioch University to create a first-of-its-kind higher education system connecting private universities nationwide. The program will create new workforce development programs while still integrating the universities' core liberal arts values.
"The two are not mutually exclusive," Comerford said.
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter,here.
shendrix@dispatch.com
@sheridan120
