I did not begin to seriously doubt the value of my liberal arts education until Hampshire College announced its closure last week. As a recent Review article assured us, Oberlin College and Conservatory’s financial situation is secure; our endowment sits at $1.5 billion, and it continues to grow (“An Introduction to Oberlin’s Financial Operations,” The Oberlin Review, April 17, 2026). We are not currently at risk of suffering the same fate of enrollment decline and tuition deficits. The fact remains, though, that Oberlin and Hampshire are facing the same trend; liberal arts colleges are fading away. As a first-year student who only just recently stepped onto this road, it’s hard not to feel as though the path is already crumbling. In the midst of these doubts, it’s important to remember that we all chose this education for a reason. There are significant advantages offered by a liberal arts education, and I would not choose to walk down any other path.
We can blame some aspects of the liberal arts’ decline on factors outside of any institution’s control. As the Review article points out, small schools like ours are dependent upon consistent enrollment, which has recently become a larger concern due to the narrowed pool of applicants born during and after the 2008 financial crisis. Small private schools suffer from these fluctuations much more dramatically than large schools with government funding or massive endowments to fall back on. Perhaps, then, these small schools will eventually begin to bounce back.
Population differences alone cannot be the only factor behind this decline. I believe that, above all else, it comes from an ideological shift around the purpose of undergraduate education. A 2024 study by Encoura’s Eduventures Research found that students’ top two desired outcomes from their college experience were strong job prospects and lasting careers. If students are chasing career prospects above all else, liberal arts colleges are simply less efficient. While colleges like Oberlin require students to take a broad range of courses throughout their degree, many students are not interested in spending valuable time, credits, and money on classes that feel irrelevant to their field.
College administrators have also cut liberal arts programming to increase efficiency. Jennifer Frey, the inaugural dean of the University of Tulsa’s Honors College, explained in an article in the New York Times that the University’s administrators essentially destroyed their liberal arts-based program by increasing class sizes and cutting staff. Large lectures dominated by a professor’s voice can service more students in less time than small seminars driven by student discussion. On the student side, major tracks which prioritize occupational expertise in one field incur less risk and more payoff after college. Through this lens, large research institutions are undeniably preferable.
Though this system is doubtless the most efficient, it loses a critical aspect of what four years of college can offer: exploration. According to a study by the Humanities Indicators of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 47 percent of students who matriculated in 2017 changed their major at some point before graduating. It is essential to give students the opportunity to change their minds. Walking into my first year of college, I had no idea what I wanted my future to look like. If I had declared my major as soon as I stepped on campus, I would have changed it by now — likely more than once. It would be a great disservice to students if we only had one chance to choose a life-long career path before we got a chance to explore anything else.
The small classroom is another indispensable part of liberal arts education. In larger universities, lectures are often low on a student’s priority list — they’re an extra time commitment to supplement the material that students already study independently. In liberal arts schools, smaller classrooms powered by peer discussion and student-professor relationships allow students to engage more actively in their own education. We can become participants in academic discourse and engage in deep questioning. We can also build more meaningful connections with mentors; professors understand my strengths, challenges, and goals. When I make progress or take risks, they can recognize and acknowledge that work. As students in a smaller, more concentrated academic environment, we have more opportunities to participate in our own education.
If large universities are the preferred approach for their efficiency, liberal arts colleges are the best option for individual development. It’s true that liberal arts colleges do not offer the fastest route to a career — but that’s not what I want my college to do for me. I want to study as a complex individual, not a future worker. I want to find a career that ignites genuine passion, not just a good starting salary. These are my top priorities, and my liberal arts college is without a doubt the best place to fulfill them.
