Liberal Arts at Valpo

In the classroom and beyond, students in the College of Arts and Sciences encounter compelling learning experiences.

The College of Arts and Sciences encourages students to develop and apply the skills taught by the curriculum. Opportunities begin in the classroom and extend through research projects, internships, and service learning.

Arts & Sciences courses often include laboratory or experiential components that allow students to experience professional environments. Excellent facilities endure that students have access to the tools and technologies professionals use. These are among the many examples of courses that include experiential learning:

• “Inside Out,” a course in which sociology and criminology students join individuals who are incarcerated in a local correctional facility for intense study of topics in criminal justice;
• Field Biology, in which students learn to gather and analyze samples while helping a local land trust reestablish native flora;
• Traditions of Giving and Serving in American Life, an English seminar in which the class project is the selection of recipients for a $10,000 gift.

The opportunity to participate in meaningful research that contributes to the world’s store of knowledge is a highlight of the Valpo A&S experience. Students often serve as research assistants to Valpo professors, and sometimes they frame their own research questions and design studies with the guidance of faculty mentors. The Office of Undergraduate Research helps scores of students locate research opportunities and funding. The annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research gives students an opportunity to present their research, and many also share their findings at regional and national conferences. Honors work and independent study, offered by most A&S programs, are among the curricular options that encourage original research by undergraduates.

Practicum courses, internships, and service learning give students in the College of Arts and Sciences a chance to stretch their wings. Most departments offer internships, and the A&S Dean’s Office can award general-studies credit for internships outside the student’s major. Among the off-campus learning sites where Valpo A&S students have recently worked:

Several off-campus study programs in the United States that focus on practical experience

• Medical clinics in Central America
• State and national parklands, historic sites, and trusts
• Local social-service agencies
• Summer internship programs at research universities
• A rich variety of study-abroad programs

Accept the challenge: pursue your passion.

Valpo offers the range of a comprehensive university, with a focus on instruction that is rare at larger schools. At Valpo, undergraduates have unusual access to resources, equipment, and, perhaps most important, the faculty.

While most large universities utilize graduate students for undergraduate instruction, undergraduates in Valpo’s College of Arts and Sciences benefit from the individual attention of teacher-scholars who have deep knowledge of their fields. Ninety percent of Arts and Sciences professors have achieved the highest degree offered in their fields, so students can be assured of expert guidance. Close, collegial relationships with faculty mentors support students who undertake rigorous and challenging courses.

This means that students can dig deeply into the fields that most fascinate and inspire them. A&S departments offer independent study and research courses that allow students to apply their theories to practical problems, and superb laboratory facilities and library resources support students’ ambitions. At the College of Arts and Sciences, students achieve real proficiency with the analytical tools the university offers.

Liberal arts education at the College of Arts and Sciences does something better than job training; it prepares each student to take the reins of a career. Employers and graduate admissions committees prize the analytical and communication skills that the College develops — as evidenced by a placement rate of more than 90 percent of our graduates for more than 20 consecutive years.

Departments in the College of Arts and Sciences focus a great deal of individual attention on their majors, learning about each student’s preferences, goals, and strengths. Sound advice from dedicated faculty mentors ensures that each student can take advantage of Valpo’s resources to chart the most advantageous course of study.

Independent study and the opportunity to do serious research give Valpo students experience that confers a distinct advantage in a competitive job market. With support from Valpo’s excellent Career Center, Arts and Sciences graduates move on to richly rewarding careers.

Valpo Arts and Sciences students get something far more valuable than training for a single job: they learn critical-thinking and communication skills that are broadly applicable in a range of fields. Every field’s particulars and technologies change, but the skills developed by liberal-arts education endure over time.

This edge means that Arts and Sciences graduates do more than enter the workforce easily; they are excellent candidates for promotion and lifetime career advancement.

In a recent survey, ninety-three percent of employers said that critical-thinking and communication skills are more important than college major in their hiring decisions. Eighty percent specifically stated that every student should have liberal-arts education. The skills developed by education at the College of Arts and Sciences build strong organizations, bringing long-term benefits to both communities and individuals.

U.S. News & World Report
No. 5 in the Midwest
No. 2 Best Undergraduate Teaching in the Midwest
No. 2 Best Value in the Midwest

Forbes Magazine
100 Top Colleges in the Midwest
Top 50 ROI College

MONEY Magazine
Best Colleges Based on Quality of Education, Affordability, and Outcomes

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
Top 100 Best Value Among Private Colleges

The tradition of education in the liberal arts continues to thrive because it is never static. An institution that values the freedom to pursue truth constantly renews itself by integrating the new knowledge — and the new questions — generated by that pursuit. For Valpo’s College of Arts and Sciences, this means embracing change and adaptation.

professor with telescope
Valpo’s College of Arts and Sciences is continually transformed by new knowledge, new questions, and new approaches.

The College of Arts and Sciences prizes innovation — in topics of study, in research techniques and tools, and in methods of teaching and learning. The A&S faculty never stops looking for new ways to approach their subjects and new ways to engage students. The one thing that doesn’t change is a deep commitment to helping students reach their full potential.