Liberal arts colleges in the United States are

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

institutions of higher education in the United States that focus on a liberal arts education. The ''

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Concise'' defines liberal arts as a "college or university curriculum aimed at imparting general knowledge and developing general intellectual capacities, in contrast to a

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

al,

vocational A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. People can be given information about a new occupation through student orientation. Though now often used in non-religious c ...

, or technical curriculum". Generally, a full-time, four-year course of study at a liberal arts college leads students to earning the

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

or the

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

. These schools are American institutions of higher education which have traditionally emphasized interactive instruction (although research is still a component of these institutions) at the

level. While there is no nationwide legal standard in the United States, the term "university" is primarily used to designate graduate education and research institutions, and is reserved for doctorate-granting institutions, and some US states, such as

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, will only grant a school "university status" if it offers graduate programs in multiple disciplines. These colleges also encourage a high level of student-teacher interaction at the center of which are classes taught by full-time faculty. They are known for being residential and may have smaller enrollment, class sizes, and student-teacher ratios than

universities A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

Consortia and groups

Liberal arts colleges are also often associated with larger bodies or consortia. The largest association of private liberal arts colleges in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

is the

Council of Independent Colleges The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association in the United States of more than 650 independent, liberal arts colleges and universities and more than 100 higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen ...

, with more than 650 small and mid-sized independent colleges and universities. The

Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges The Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) is a consortium of 30 public colleges and universities in 27 states and one Canadian province. Established in 1987, COPLAC advances the aims of its member institutions and drives awareness of the ...

is a consortium of

public liberal arts colleges In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

. Many liberal arts colleges belong to the

Annapolis Group The Annapolis Group is an American organization of independent liberal arts colleges. It represents approximately 130 liberal arts colleges in the United States. These colleges work together to promote a greater understanding of the goals of a lib ...

, Oberlin Group,

Women's College Coalition The Women's College Coalition (WCC) was founded in 1972 and describes itself as an "association of women’s colleges and universities that are two- and four-year, public and private, religiously affiliated and secular." Leadership *Chair: Ann McEl ...

, and the

Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges The Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges (CLAC) is a nonprofit organization of 75 American liberal arts colleges which formed in 1984 under the leadership of Oberlin College's president S. Frederick Starr. CLAC brings together the IT professionals ...

. A number of liberal arts colleges are involved in

Project Pericles Project Pericles Inc. is a non-profit organization composed of liberal arts colleges and universities geared towards the ideas that social responsibility and participatory citizenship are essential parts of an undergraduate curriculum, in the c ...

or the Eco League. Other well-known consortia in the

Eastern United States The Eastern United States, commonly referred to as the American East, Eastern America, or simply the East, is the region of the United States to the east of the Mississippi River. In some cases the term may refer to a smaller area or the East C ...

include the

Little Three The ''Little Three'' is a term started by and used in reference to athletic competition between three private liberal arts colleges in the New England region of the United States: Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, Wesleyan University i ...

, Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium, the Seven Sisters Colleges, and the

Little Ivies The Little Ivies are an unofficial group of small, academically competitive private liberal arts colleges in the Northeastern United States. The term Little Ivy derives from these schools' small student bodies, standards of academic excellence, ...

. Four Eastern colleges, along with the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

, are also part of the Five Colleges Consortium in

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

and three Eastern colleges comprise the Tri-College Consortium. In

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

, five liberal arts colleges with adjoining campuses and two graduate schools together form the

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)— Pomona College, Sc ...

. Consortia in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

include the

Associated Colleges of the Midwest Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) is a consortium of 14 private liberal arts colleges, primarily in the Midwestern United States. The 14 colleges are located in five states (Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado). The ACM was es ...

, Five Colleges of Ohio, Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, and the

Great Lakes Colleges Association The Great Lakes Colleges Association (GLCA) is a consortium of 13 liberal arts colleges located in the states around the Great Lakes. The GLCA's offices are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and its 13 schools are located in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylva ...

. Groups in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

include the Associated Colleges of the South and the Seven Sisters of the South.

Purpose and goals

Chapter One ("The Liberal Arts: What is a Liberal Arts Education and Why is it Important Today") of Howard Greene and Matthew Greene's '' Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence'', defines the goals of a liberal arts education in the following manner:

In a complex, shifting world, it is essential to develop a high degree of intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills, a sense of moral and ethical responsibility to one's community, the ability to reason clearly, to think rationally, to analyze information intelligently, to respond to people in a compassionate and fair way, to continue learning new information and concepts over a lifetime, to appreciate and gain pleasure from the beauty of the arts and literature and to use these as an inspiration and a solace when needed, to revert to our historical past for lessons that will help shape the future intelligently and avoid unnecessary mistakes, to create a sense of self-esteem that comes from personal accomplishments and challenges met with success.

In addition, college placement counselor

Loren Pope Loren Brooks Pope (July 13, 1910 – September 23, 2008) was an American writer and educational consultant, best known for his book, ''Colleges That Change Lives''. He was also the education editor of ''The New York Times.'' Background Bo ...

writes that at the liberal arts colleges he lists in '' Colleges That Change Lives'':

The focus is on the student, not the faculty; he is heavily involved in his own education. There are no passive ears; students and faculty work so closely together, they even coauthor publications. Teaching is an act of love. There is not only a mentor relationship in class but professors become hiking companions, intramural teammates, dinner companions, and friends. Learning is collaborative rather than competitive; values are central; there is a strong sense of community. They are places of great synergy, where the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Aspirations are raised, young people are empowered.

Rankings

College and university rankings guides offer annual issues that rank liberal arts colleges separately from research universities. ''

The Washington Monthly ''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...

'' and '' U.S. News & World Report'' provide rankings specifically of liberal arts colleges.

2007 movement

On 19 June 2007, during the annual meeting of the

, members discussed the letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the "reputation survey" section of the ''U.S. News & World Report'' survey (this section comprises 25% of the ranking). As a result, "a majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting said that they did not intend to participate in the U.S. News reputational rankings in the future." However, the decision to fill out the reputational survey or not will be left up to each individual college as: "the Annapolis Group is not a legislative body and any decision about participating in the US News rankings rests with the individual institutions." The statement also said that its members "have agreed to participate in the development of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process". This database will be web based and developed in conjunction with higher education organizations including the'' National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities'' and the ''

.'' On 22 June 2007, ''U.S. News & World Report'' editor Robert Morse issued a response in which he argued, "in terms of the peer assessment survey, we at ''U.S. News'' firmly believe the survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the "intangibles" of a college that we can't measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges." In reference to the alternative database discussed by the Annapolis Group, Morse also argued, "It's important to point out that the Annapolis Group's stated goal of presenting college data in a common format has been tried before ... ''U.S. News'' has been supplying this exact college information for many years already. And it appears that NAICU will be doing it with significantly less comparability and functionality. ''U.S. News'' first collects all these data (using an agreed-upon set of definitions from the Common Data Set). Then we post the data on our website in easily accessible, comparable tables. In other words, the Annapolis Group and the others in the NAICU initiative actually are following the lead of ''U.S. News''."

SAT optional movement

A number of U.S. liberal arts colleges have either joined, or have been important influences on, a movement to make the

SAT The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...

optional for admission, in response to criticisms of the SAT. Bowdoin College in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

and

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

Lewiston, Maine Lewiston (; ; officially the City of Lewiston, Maine) is the second largest city in Maine and the most central city in Androscoggin County. The city lies halfway between Augusta, the state's capital, and Portland, the state's most populous ci ...

were among the first to institute SAT-optional programs in 1969 and 1984, respectively. In 1990, the Bates faculty voted to make all standardized testing optional in the college's admissions process, and in October 2004 Bates published a study regarding the testing optional policy, which was presented to the

National Association for College Admission Counseling The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), founded in 1937, is an organization of more than 25,000 professionals from around the world dedicated to serving students transitioning from secondary to postsecondary education. ...

. Following two decades without required testing, the college found that the difference in graduation rates between submitters and non-submitters was 0.1%, that Bates' applicant pool had doubled since the policy was instated with approximately 1/3 of applicants not submitting scores, that non-submitting students averaged only 0.05 points lower on their collegiate Grade Point Average, and that applications from minority students rose dramatically. The Bates study prompted a movement among small liberal arts colleges to make the

optional for admission to college in the early 2000s. Indeed, according to a 31 August 2006 article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', "It is still far too early to sound the death knell, but for many small liberal arts colleges, the SAT may have outlived its usefulness." Sarah Lawrence College and Pitzer College dropped their

test score submission requirement for their undergraduate applicants in 2003 and 2004 respectively, thus joining the SAT optional movement for

admission. The former president of Sarah Lawrence, Dr. Michele Tolela Myers, described the rationale for this decision in an article for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' on 11 March 2007, saying: "We are a writing-intensive school, and the information produced by SAT scores added little to our ability to predict how a student would do at our college; it did, however, do much to bias admission in favor of those who could afford expensive coaching sessions." As a result of this policy, in the same ''Washington Post'' article, Dr. Myers stated that she was informed by the ''U.S. News & World Report'' that if no SAT scores were submitted, ''U.S. News'' would "make up a number" to use in its magazines. She further argues that if SLC were to decide to stop sending all data to ''U.S. News & World Report'', their ranking would be artificially decreased. ''U.S. News'' issued a response to this article on 12 March 2007 that stated that the evaluation of Sarah Lawrence is under review. As of 2007, according to ''U.S. News & World Report'', Sarah Lawrence was the only "major" American college that completely disregarded SAT scores in its admission process. Currently Sarah Lawrence accepts SAT scores, but submitting these scores remains optional. Other liberal arts colleges that have since begun to no longer consider the SAT include

Shimer College Shimer Great Books School (pronounced ) is a Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, with a history of being ...

and

Hampshire College Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1970 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mo ...

, which is "test blind" in both admissions and financial aid decisions. The full list of SAT optional schools is given by FairTest, an American

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

al organization that "advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. FairTest also works to end the misuses and flaws of testing practices that impede those goals."

Oldest American liberal arts colleges