Can you get a liberal arts degree online?
The short answer is a resounding YES!
There’s no doubt that in the early days of school over the internet, a lot of online degree programs were STEM focused. That has changed dramatically in the past few years however, as more and more liberal arts degrees are available online. With 15.4% of college students enrolled exclusively in distance education courses, it’s not surprising that demand has increased for degrees in more diverse academic disciplines. Now liberal arts degrees in fields like humanities, social science, and fine arts degrees are far more widely available than ever, thanks largely to long established colleges and universities expanding their online bachelor’s degree options.
Is an online liberal arts degree right for you?
The first question you need to ask yourself is what you hope to do with your liberal arts degree. If you have a specific career or field you’d like to break into, you need to talk to academic advisors and also do some research on people in the field. Find out what sorts of degrees people in that field have. There may be more variation in some fields than you realize—many corporate entry level jobs don’t necessarily require (or even want) specific business degrees. In fact, a bachelor of arts may even be more desirable in some cases. But if you have a specific career goal in mind, like being a doctor, a scientist, an engineer, or an accountant, you’ll need to choose an online degree program to match your goals.
Or, are you more concerned about simply earning a bachelor’s degree online than you are with training for a specific career? In the case that you have no specific career in mind and simply wish to pursue the field of most interest to you, then a liberal arts degree is a great option.
Which liberal arts degrees are available?
There are few liberal arts, if any, liberal arts degrees not available online. From the humanities, there are options for English, literature, history, music, and religion. From the social sciences you’ll find options like political science, anthropology, communications, psychology, sociology, geology, comparative history, and economy majors. In fine arts, you’ll find all aspects of art, design, creative writing, media and film studies, and animation studies available to you. No matter your particular interest, there’s probably an online degree program tailored to your exact needs.
What kinds of schools offer liberal arts degrees online?
The quick answer is basically the same kinds of schools that offer those degrees on-campus. And you may find that online liberal arts degrees programs are available from very prestigious public and private colleges and universities. As more and more schools work to expand their online options, those best known for their liberal arts degrees are quickly staking out space in the digital sphere for their best known departments. As with nearly all online degrees, these programs generally offer diplomas that are identical to those earned by students on-campus and therefore can confer all the prestige that these degree granting institutions have earned for themselves over the decades (or centuries as the case may be).
There’s never been a better time to find an online degree program in the liberal arts!
