Liberal Arts & Science

What is Liberal Arts?

• An education model and broad-based curriculum that intends to provide critical thinking and reasoning skills. By exploring issues, ideas, and methods across the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences liberal arts programs are designed to provide both general knowledge across subjects areas as well as to help students formulate compelling arguments, communicate well, and solve problems.

• Liberal arts may be a good option for students who enjoy interdisciplinary studies or who do not want to limit themselves to studying just one subject area during their undergraduate degree. 

Where can I study Liberal Arts in English?

American Universities Abroad

• American Universities Abroad (americanuniabroad.com) 

• Top U.S. Colleges With Branches Overseas (forbes.com) 

Australia

• Bachelor of Arts Degrees may offer ability to study multiple disciplines, have double majors, minors etc.

• Dual degree options to pursue both science and humanities/social sciences

• Examples

  • What is a Bachelor of Arts? - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (sydney.edu.au)

  • Bachelor of Arts - The University of Melbourne (unimelb.edu.au)

  • Double your options with a dual degree at UQ

Canada

• Bachelor of Arts Degrees may offer ability to study multiple disciplines, have double majors, minors etc.

• Several universities offer BA degrees with a specialization/major in Liberal Arts, Liberal Studies, or General Studies

• Dual degree options to pursue both science and humanities/social sciences

• Examples of degree flexibility

  • Bachelor of Arts degree | Undergraduate Programs | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca)

  • Program Options | Faculty of Arts | University of British Columbia (UBC)

  • Explore our Programs | Faculty of Arts & Science (utoronto.ca)

• EduCanada: the official Government of Canada website for study in Canada information

France

• SciencesPo offers a broad Bachelor of Arts degree as well as many dual degree programs that partner with other universities around the world. 

• / Undergraduate Studies | Sciences Po

Japan

• • Several programs in liberal arts at many Japanese  universities

  • Undergraduate Program Search | UNIV. IN JAPAN (univinjapan.com)

Netherlands

• • University college system offer general studies around a discipline (eg. Natural science, social science, or humanities).

  • University Colleges | Study in Holland

  • University College Utrecht - Webinar recording December 2020 - YouTube 

New Zealand

• • Bachelor of Arts Degrees may offer ability to study multiple disciplines, have double majors, minors etc.

  • Examples of flexible degree programs

    • Why study a BA - The University of Auckland

    • Bachelor of Science - The University of Auckland

    • Bachelor of Arts (BA), Qualifications, University of Otago, New Zealand

    • Bachelor of Arts and Science (BASc), Qualifications, University of Otago, New Zealand

    • Bachelor of Arts | University of Canterbury

  • Double or Conjoint programs allows students to study 2 diverse or dissimilar bachelors degrees at the same time

    • Conjoint programmes - The University of Auckland

    • Double and conjoint degrees | Qualifications and courses | University of Canterbury

UK

• • While liberal arts courses are not widely popular in the UK, there are a small number of universities that do offer courses. You can find them on UCAS Search. Search - UCAS

  • A few notable liberal arts or flexible course options:

    • Arts and Sciences BASc | Undergraduate prospectus 2022 - UCL – University College London

    • Social Sciences BSc | Undergraduate prospectus 2022 - UCL – University College London

    • Natural Sciences BSc (Hons) (bath.ac.uk)

    • Liberal Arts and Sciences - Undergraduate Degree - Y001 - University of Birmingham

    • Subjects You Can Study - Durham University

    • Liberal Arts - Queen Mary University of London (qmul.ac.uk)

    • BA Liberal Arts | Study at Bristol | University of Bristol

    • Liberal Arts BA | Undergraduate Study | University of Exeter

    • Liberal Arts BA (UCAS LA99) (warwick.ac.uk)

    • Flexible Combined Honours BA/BSc (Exeter) | Undergraduate Study | University of Exeter 

  • US Universities with campuses in the UK

    • Undergraduate degree programmes @ Richmond University 

    • Northeastern University London | Undergraduate & Masters in London (nulondon.ac.uk) 

US

• • Most US universities are built on the Liberal Arts model, meaning students have academic flexibility to explore multiple subjects outside their major. The exact curriculum, requirements and flexibility differs across universities.

  • Some universities offer flexible curricula where students can design their path around their own interests. 

  • Some universities have general education requirements or other core curricula models that all students are required to fulfill in addition to their chosen major. 

  • For a list of liberal arts colleges, please review 2022 Best National Liberal Arts Colleges | US News Rankings