Best Master's in Liberal Arts

Common undergraduate degrees that lead to the master's level in liberal arts include a wide range of fields including art, history, psychology, geography, journalism, and in some colleges, mathematics. Such a wide array allows the undergraduate to be well prepared for the master's level in liberal arts. This is especially true for someone seeking future employment in sociology or history where further education would be required. In general, any one of these subjects allows the development of core skills and knowledge that would be useful in any job.

The admissions requirements for a liberal arts master's program according to BLS generally does not require any particular field of study. What is important is that a bachelor's degree has been obtained. Keep in mind though that a minimum GPA of 3.0 is required in many programs as well as taking the GRE. If an applicant has a lower GPA, a higher GRE score might allow acceptance into the program. In this case, professional experience would also be advantageous and could involve employment related to the field of study as well as an internship. Admission materials include:

• Application
• Transcripts from any school attended
• Three letters of recommendation
• GRE
• Application fee

All of these points must be strictly adhered to, as admissions to these programs are competitive.

One should get a master's in liberal arts because a master's degree would give an opportunity to consider later applying for a doctorate, which is necessary if one's desired occupation involves becoming a sociologist or historian. A master's in liberal arts may also allow a person to earn a higher salary in business, education, and healthcare fields. As an alternative to the master's degree, one could take additional courses in business or technological type courses that involve skills needed in a certain occupations like mathematics, engineering or various technology fields.

Choosing a master's in a liberal arts program can be rather difficult, but to make it easier, certain questions can be asked such as the following:

• Will the coursework fulfill my goals?
• What are the best ranking colleges for a master's in liberal arts?
• Does the program offer an internship or project with support?
• Does the program and its location enable me to be covered financially?

Once these important questions have been answered, the task of choosing a certain program will be much easier and less overwhelming.

Common courses in a liberal arts master's degree program can span many subjects. These subjects are listed in four main categories:

1. the humanities
2. social science
3. creative arts
4. sciences

Within these categories are courses such as English literature, history, philosophy, anthropology, economics, geography, theater, art, astronomy, physics, and chemistry. At the start of your degree, you will take introductory-type courses that will help you to decide later which field to narrow your study and use that as your major to complete your degree.

Liberal Arts Foundational Courses

Liberal arts foundational courses are common to almost all programs. They include:

• Science and Society - learn about the principles of the scientific method and its effect on society
• Ethics - investigate current moral and social issues
• Social Sciences - explore certain topics in sociology, economics, history, anthropology, and political science
• Humanities - examine theology, literature, and the performing arts.

These required foundational courses allow the student to help learn research methods and skills as well as polish their writing ability needed to successfully complete a master's thesis project. Such a well-rounded set of courses will give the student more opportunity to pursue different occupations after graduation.

Liberal Arts Specialist & Elective Courses

In order for the student to focus their graduate studies on a particular interest and with a certain career goal in mind, special and elective courses are offered. Such courses may include:

• Social History of Medicine - covers topics in modern medicine and how culture, politics, and economics play a key role.
• Cultural Eras - explores the ways in which American culture including gender, politics, and religion has been defined and changed through time.
• Gender Studies - investigates ways in which gender has evolved throughout history relating to masculinity, feminism, and the LGBTQ movement.
• Environmental Studies - reflects on the changes in politics, economics, and ethics and how they have impacted the environment.
• Development of Modern Thought - an historical course that covers ancient thought practices to modern ones including topics like arts, literature, philosophy, and political science.

Licensure & Certification in Liberal Arts

Licensure and certification is usually required for those students who want to pursue a degree in psychology and work with the public either as a counselor or teacher. Other fields too will require such credentials, so be sure to check with your state. For example, the course of psychology focuses on the human mind and the graduate student will learn the application of certain social methods on human behavior. As a counselor they will be involved with individuals that have problems with substance abuse or mental and behavioral issues. Specifically, they might deal with those with drug addiction, eating disorders, and mental illness. As another example, to become a teacher with a degree in psychology, one would have to be certified by the state in order to teach in a certain district.

Concentrations that may be pursued during a master's in liberal arts can include:

• Cultural studies, which explores how topics such as ethnicity, gender, and sexuality, affect culture.
• Globalization, which shows how global politics including war and peace play a role in culture and business.
• Democracy, in which the student can learn about different liberal arts subjects and how democracy is intertwined within each of these subjects.
• Ethics, which may be useful for those that want to work later in scientific fields such as anthropology.

These courses lead to a wide variety of careers related to sociology, history, politics, and psychology.

There are many post-graduate options after obtaining a master's in liberal arts, even in an academic sense. One option might be to complement your master's degree with courses in business, marketing, or a more technical route in order to be well prepared to enter the business field or a career in science and technology. Other options would be to apply to law school to study law and become a lawyer or to study medicine. A good idea would be to research additional career information with a degree in liberal arts or general studies.

After receiving a master's in liberal arts there are many opportunities available for the graduate to select a career in liberal arts or humanities. This is in part due to the core skills and knowledge gained during their education such as writing, research, and computer techniques, which are applicable basically everywhere. Attainment of such key skills allows them to prepare and apply to many types of jobs within the workforce.

For example, if art is major subject studied during a student's degree, they could enter the field of commercial art and graphic design. The top five occupations of this field include designers, artists, supervisors of retail sales, web developers, and different types of managers.

Job Outlook for a Master's in Liberal Arts

The job outlook for those with a master's in liberal arts varies widely of course due to the numerous careers a student may choose to pursue. Outlooks of just a sampling are as follows:

How to Become a Graphic Designer

In order to become a graphic designer, at least a bachelor's degree in graphic design is needed along with a portfolio displaying work. Those who want enter this field but have studies in a different one should complete some form of technical training in graphic design to be competitive. Courses will include studio art, computerized design, printing techniques and website design to name just a few.

These courses should also be accompanied by courses in writing and marketing that will be later useful in the role of designer and noticed by employers. The average salary for a graphic designer is $52,110 per year, and as of 2017 there were a total of 281,500 jobs in the Unites States. The job outlook is expected to decline by -10,700 between 2019 and 2029, but that is due to the decrease in companies printing newspapers and does not account for digital formats.

How to Become a Marketing Manager

In order to become a marketing manager, a bachelor's degree is required along with experience in marketing and sales if possible. Possible courses in this field can include business law, management, economics, finance, computer science, and mathematics. Skills in computer science are necessary in order to understand about advertising ads online and promoting a company's business.

Experience will be preferred, perhaps from completing an internship in marketing or advertising. Duties of this role help companies to help profit their sales of their products as well as enhance customer relations.

In 2019 there were about 286,000 jobs with professional, scientific, and technical services holding as the largest employers. People in this field work directly with an executive of a company with strict deadlines. Travel is usually required to meet other clients.

The average salary for marketing managers was $136,850 in 2019. A a growth of 7% is expected in this career field from 2019 to 2029. This salary is one of the highest paying careers obtained from a liberal arts degree.

Sure, completing a master's in a liberal arts program is expensive, but know that there are many options to help. Assistance for a student's liberal arts education comes in four types including institutional, private, state, and federal.

Institutional awards are offered by the university or college itself and depend on academic or athletic ability. Awards can range between $5,000 and $20,000 per year and can be awarded by the department of a particular college. In this case, this type of assistance may only be given to students who are in need of financial assistance.

Private awards are also given by outside donors and may depend on a particular region, or underserved ethnicity or gender.

For federal assistance, pursue the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which determines the amount of awards based on the cost of the program as well as the student's family financial needs. There are also grants, which are highly coveted because they do not need to repaid. The Federal Pell Grant offers up to $6,345 as well as work-study aid called Federal Work Study (FWS), which is applied if a student is awarded federal aid from the FAFSA.