President talks about liberal arts value

In a meeting with the (Cedar Rapids) Gazette editorial board, Cornell College President Jonathan Brand spoke about the school’s plan to increase enrollment, as well as about the importance of a liberal arts education.

From the article:

The type of people who are drawn to the college’s one-course-at-a-time academic schedule and the type of relationships that model allows students and faculty to form are chief among Cornell’s strengths, Brand said. Cornell officials want to study the one-course-at-a-time model to gather measurable outcomes of student success, in an effort to show the benefits of that system, he said.

“I’m confident it will show the efficacy of it,” he said. “The closer the relationship between a teacher and a student, the better the relationship.”

Rising costs have driven the debate about whether a liberal arts education is worth the money in today’s economy. Brand said he respects other options, such as technical programs, but he said there remains a place for a liberal arts education because it provides a broad educational experience that prepares students for any career.

“I think it’s the most agile, the most flexible education model you can find,” he said.

You can read the complete story here.