The Value of a Liberal Arts Education

"I submit that no better pre-law, pre-medicine, pre-business, pre-journalism, pre-what-have-you education can be had than the broadest exposure to the greatest number of academic disciplines." -- Philip Kurland, Kenan Distinguished Professor, University of Chicago

At Drew, we have shaped our liberal arts curriculum to prepare students for a lifetime of continuous learning by giving them the skills and tools, and encouragement, they need to succeed. In our classrooms, students sharpen their skills of inquiry, research, analysis and communication and learn to place individual subjects into larger contexts.

Students participate in a curriculum , carefully developed by our faculty, that combines traditional, interdisciplinary, and experiential modes of learning together with the creative application of advanced technologies to prepare them for graduate study, successful careers, and rewarding lives.

Underlying our curriculum is a strong bond between professors and students that has been called "a love affair" by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The student/faculty relationship is marked by involvement, dialogue, and mutual respect. Full professors, department chairs, even deans and the president teach and mentor undergraduates. All of them believe that the best minds are formed by the most rigorous study in a supportive community where students are encouraged to form their own ideas and to challenge the ideas and thinking of others.

At Drew, students forge identities strong enough for a lifetime; identities and beliefs tested by the imaginations of great professors, and sharpened by the give-and-take in residence halls, the dining hall, the library, and even on the playing fields.

By the time students graduate , they will have acquired a strong liberal arts background that will allow them to function successfully in tomorrow's world, often in jobs we can't even begin to imagine today. In fact, some studies suggest that workers may change careers - not just jobs - four or five times during their working lives.

A liberal arts education provides the foundation to define and pursue career goals as changes occur. That's why a Drew liberal arts education continues to pay dividends into the future.

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