Ranked #13 in popularity, liberal arts general studies is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 10 schools in Massachusetts to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of liberal arts general studies. Combined, these schools handed out 625 bachelor's degrees in liberal arts general studies to qualified students.
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Choosing a Great Liberal Arts General Studies School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The liberal arts bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality liberal arts program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on liberal arts general studies students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of liberal arts general studies students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt liberal arts general studies students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized liberal arts general studies related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for liberal arts general studies students working on their bachelor's degree.
When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Liberal Arts General Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Massachusetts list to help you make the college decision.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
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University of Massachusetts Amherst is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the small city of Amherst, UMass Amherst is a public university with a very large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the liberal arts program report average early career income of $36,362.
Westfield State University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the large suburb of Westfield, Westfield is a public university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the liberal arts program report average early career earnings of $35,004.
Lesley University is a great choice for individuals interested in a bachelor's degree in liberal arts general studies. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Lesley is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.
After graduation, liberal arts bachelor's recipients typically earn around $35,658 at the beginning of their careers.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.