OP needs to clarify. Do you mean:

- STEM vs non-STEM

- Liberal arts colleges vs. research universities (note that the latter can provide liberal arts educations)

- Liberal arts degrees vs technical/career-focused degrees (note that the latter does not necessarily mean a vocational school, but can mean something like Georgetown School of Foreign Service, which offers a BSFS degree, in contrast to Georgetown's College of Arts and Sciences, which offers a liberal arts education).

To the people who say the "vernacular" dictates that liberal arts educations are non-STEM: no, that just means you're ignorant as to what a liberal arts education is.

It seems like Liberal Arts just has a bad connotation for some people (although their understanding of it may be flawed). Maybe this is the reason left-leaning democrats now favor the term "progressive" over "liberal".

The article cited shows there can be a very good ROI from LACs, particularly when it is looked at over time.

Hey, OP, what did you intend?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

That statement doesn't make sense. Many STEM degrees are what Liberal Arts students can choose as a major. Computer science, mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, neuroscience, data sciences, etc. are all potential majors at schools with Liberal Arts programs. If you were drawing a Venn diagram, they would overlap.

Your semantics are confusing this discussion. The PP is referring to a STEM major. Many people call their STEM major a STEM degree. Doesn't matter where you get it. This discussion is asking about he value of choosing a non-STEM major vs. a STEM major (or maybe a more practical, applied major like business).

Disagree. The statement "The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set." is what was confusing.

Rephrasing to STEM vs. non-STEM is better if that is what was intended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

That statement doesn't make sense. Many STEM degrees are what Liberal Arts students can choose as a major. Computer science, mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, neuroscience, data sciences, etc. are all potential majors at schools with Liberal Arts programs. If you were drawing a Venn diagram, they would overlap.

Your semantics are confusing this discussion. The PP is referring to a STEM major. Many people call their STEM major a STEM degree. Doesn't matter where you get it. This discussion is asking about he value of choosing a non-STEM major vs. a STEM major (or maybe a more practical, applied major like business).

DP: No, they are not. The PP was talking about return on investment of the degrees in the study being discussed--which was return on investment in liberal arts degree. Yes, the liberal arts colleges with engineering degrees/STEM focus perform the best out of that set in terms of lifetime income. But overall liberal arts degrees (STEM majors and otherwise) have a better return on investment than other schools--save for top few schools like Stanford and MIT.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

That statement doesn't make sense. Many STEM degrees are what Liberal Arts students can choose as a major. Computer science, mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, neuroscience, data sciences, etc. are all potential majors at schools with Liberal Arts programs. If you were drawing a Venn diagram, they would overlap.

Your semantics are confusing this discussion. The PP is referring to a STEM major. Many people call their STEM major a STEM degree. Doesn't matter where you get it. This discussion is asking about he value of choosing a non-STEM major vs. a STEM major (or maybe a more practical, applied major like business).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Liberal arts is so misunderstood. It doesn't just mean being a philosophy major. You can be a science major. You can be a math major. You can even be a computer science major at many school. I an not even sure there is something called a "liberal arts degree". You can get a degree in a particular subject from a liberal arts college or the arts and sciences program of a university.

DH and I went to liberal arts colleges and our combined income is over $1m. One kid went to a liberal arts college and the other to the Arts and Sciences school of a flagship university and both have great jobs.

Please tell us what you do to earn that kind of money.

Consulting, although we have different areas of expertise.

What does consulting really mean? I never know what people mean when they say this.

It means advising other businesses on some aspect of their strategy or operations. There are many large and small/boutique consulting companies. McKinsey may be a familiar one.

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

That statement doesn't make sense. Many STEM degrees are what Liberal Arts students can choose as a major. Computer science, mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics, neuroscience, data sciences, etc. are all potential majors at schools with Liberal Arts programs. If you were drawing a Venn diagram, they would overlap.

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

A STEM degree can be a liberal arts degree! You just get it at a school with a liberal arts core curriculum rather than a technical school or large university with specialized departments. I got a chem major at a liberal arts college. It's a liberal arts degree (and has served me well). My husband has a sociology major at a liberal arts college. It's also a liberal arts degree and has served him well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

But as a PP said, there is value to getting a STEM degree from a liberal arts school. Not sure you get the distinction

There is value, sure. But I’ve seen asked many times whether it’s better to get a STEM degree from Virginia Tech or UVA, as one example. A lot of people will say that VT has a stronger recruitment program or better name recognition in that particular field. I don’t think there is a prevailing school of though on it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Liberal arts is so misunderstood. It doesn't just mean being a philosophy major. You can be a science major. You can be a math major. You can even be a computer science major at many school. I an not even sure there is something called a "liberal arts degree". You can get a degree in a particular subject from a liberal arts college or the arts and sciences program of a university.

DH and I went to liberal arts colleges and our combined income is over $1m. One kid went to a liberal arts college and the other to the Arts and Sciences school of a flagship university and both have great jobs.

Please tell us what you do to earn that kind of money.

Consulting, although we have different areas of expertise.

What does consulting really mean? I never know what people mean when they say this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some of you are confused as to what a liberal arts education is. Maybe you think it means majoring in a humanities or social sciences discipline? It doesn't.

A liberal arts education means that you take core classes in a wide range of subjects, from humanities to social sciences to hard sciences. Your ultimate major can be anything from poetry to physics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education

A liberal arts degree is typically contrasted with a technical or vocational degree.

I'm sorry but in the common vernacular, a liberal arts degree pretty much always mean a humanities-focused degree. And that is the meaning of the original post. I took courses across many disciplines including taking as many humanities and social sciences as I could fit in with my STEM major, but I would never say I have a liberal arts degree. People would get an incorrect understanding if I did.

Disagree. Depends upon the circles you travel in...

I don't travel in circles.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some of you are confused as to what a liberal arts education is. Maybe you think it means majoring in a humanities or social sciences discipline? It doesn't.

A liberal arts education means that you take core classes in a wide range of subjects, from humanities to social sciences to hard sciences. Your ultimate major can be anything from poetry to physics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education

A liberal arts degree is typically contrasted with a technical or vocational degree.

I'm sorry but in the common vernacular, a liberal arts degree pretty much always mean a humanities-focused degree. And that is the meaning of the original post. I took courses across many disciplines including taking as many humanities and social sciences as I could fit in with my STEM major, but I would never say I have a liberal arts degree. People would get an incorrect understanding if I did.

Disagree. Depends upon the circles you travel in...

Anonymous wrote:The return on investment for a STEM degree is about double that of a LA egree, based on the same data set.

But as a PP said, there is value to getting a STEM degree from a liberal arts school. Not sure you get the distinction