Whats the diff. between a college and a Liberal Arts Colleges?

Question

I always see that each college is labled but an not sure whats the difference

Answer 1

A college is a regular university, a place for higher learning, they may have a curriculum that makes you do the standard, 2 years of college. The usual science, math, humanities, english, social science courses.

A liberal arts college is one where there is more emphasis on the humanities, arts, and social sciences, but not on math and science. A liberal arts college may offere a BA or a BS degree in biology, chemistry, and so forth.

It's the first 2 years of college that is the difference. I went to a liberal arts college. I was only required to take 1 higher math, 1 biology class, and one other science class. But I had to take philosophy, a non western lit class, about 3 englishes, and other social sciences.

Answer 2

In current parlence, a liberal arts college usually means a primarily undergraduate institution that grants a bachelor's degree with majors in the liberal arts and sciences. Some also grant a few master's degrees such as education (M.Ed.) and/or business (M.B.A.). However, under the dominant classification system in higher education (Carnegie Foundation), when more than three master's level degree programs are offered at a college, it becomes a "master's granting institution" and might no longer be a primarily undergraduate institution. Doctoral granting and research universities are by definition universities and not primarily undergraduate institutions. There are also community colleges (that used to be called junior colleges), which offer the first two years of higher education for an associates degree such as the Associate of Arts (A.A.) and some technical training courses of study.

Technically, a college is based on the thirteenth-century English college such as those found at Oxford or Cambridge. At a college the students and faculty members lived in the same building. The students studied works written in Latin, Greek, and sometimes Hebrew with an emphasis on theology and moral philosophy. The faculty members were responsible to educate the students in being a gentleman with good manners and civic responsibility. This was the dominant form of higher education until the late eighteenth century, even in the newly formed United States. About that time, the students wanted to start studying English literature, and works in other modern languages such as French and German. This more "liberal" curriculum was called the liberal arts.

At the same time a number of "States" also wanted to have more practical education such as the study of mathematics for surveying the newly free territories they controled, and for navigation for merchant shipping. They also wanted students to learn the new ideas about botany and chemistry which could be used in agriculture. By about the decade of 1840, most colleges were teaching this curriculum in the liberal arts and sciences. The churches which were supporting most of the colleges were also finally completely forced out of teaching narrow denominationalism at about the same time. However, the goal of being a place of residence where faculty members could be models of good behavior and citizenship remained a part of the "college."

The English college is in contrast to the other form of higher education -- the German university. In the German university, advancement of disciplinary knowledge was the main goal. The university was made up of "faculties" that studied a specific topic. The faculties were defined by the academic interests of the professors and not by the residential "family-like" living arrangement of the professors and students intended to produce a well-rounded citizen. The purpose of a university is to advance knowledge and train practitioners of certain skills and educate the next generation of scholars.

But, I digress! An occupational hazzard of the professoriate. Most of the time, when people are talking about a type of institution and say it is a "college" they mean a liberal arts college. But, when they say something like "every one should go to college," they mean any higher education institution.

Answer 3

I go to a liberal arts college, but I am a math major.
The difference b/t a college and a liberal arts college is mainly found in the general education curriculum - the courses that everybody needs to take regardless of your major. A college is a very general type of 2 or 4 year institution where they offer general degree programs, and their general education curriculum usually has less requirements. For a liberal arts college, the general education curriculum focuses on humanity, arts/science, literature, health, religion, and basically everything. Liberal arts college students take much diverse classes where they can learn a broad range of subjects in their first 2 years of college experience.
However, in terms of major concentration, I don't see any difference between a college and a liberal arts college. (you can be a pre-med major, or any major in science and math.)

Answer 4

A liberal arts college usually refers to a 4-year educational institution in the United States that offers education in the traditional fields of arts and sciences (e.g. art history, English, biology, economics). Liberal arts colleges usually don't offer professional types of degrees such as accounting, nursing or engineering. There are, however, exceptions, just to confuse us.:)