Ask An Economist: How Much Money is the Liberal Arts Experience Really Worth?

Dear Emily,

I need your help choosing between my head and my heart. I’m a junior in high school, and I’ve always wanted to have the classic liberal arts-college experience: small classes, beautiful campus, dorm parties. and close-knit classmates. With my grades, I know I can probably get into a college that may have all of those things–but most likely not a brand-name, highly ranked school.

My parents, meanwhile, want me to go to an in-state public school. They say tuition is too high at the private colleges I’m looking at, and the financial aid packages aren’t that good. I don’t want to graduate with tons of debt, but I also want to make the most of this important time in my life. (You only get to go to college once, right?) The state schools I’m looking at seem really big and impersonal. Can you help me figure out whether the liberal arts education is worth the cost?

This is a big decision, and I think in a sense both you and your parents are right. On one hand, this is the only time you will go to college. If what you want are intimate poetry seminars and a vibrant on-campus social life, there is real value in picking a school that will best provide that experience. On the other hand, a small liberal arts college is often a lot more expensive, and it is not clear you will achieve higher (economic) returns from the experience.

At the end of the day, you need to figure out if the gains from the small college outweigh the costs. On the cost side (your parents’), it will help to get some hard numbers about exact tuition costs and how much you can get in financial aid. But you also need to figure out what the returns to liberal-arts options will be in the long run.

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