Graduate liberal studies: a nontraditional, interdisciplinary approach to higher education

Abstract

Educators, authors and policymakers continue to address the quality and focus of higher education in the United States. Some have noted the unprecedented number of students entering professional colleges and universities as a gateway to promising careers, while others have suggested that our schools lack the wherewithal to reconstitute the idea of a liberally educated person. Yet, over the past 16 years there has been considerable growth in the number of institutions that have established new graduate programs in Liberal Studies.

This study examined the growth associated with those programs and addressed the issues of why the programs were started; whom they served; and, how they fit and operated within their host institutions. The methodology encompassed survey and case study research. The population consisted of the total number of schools actively affiliated with the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP).