In his article published on “Daedalus”, a renowned academic journal published by MIT press, Dr. Astin discussed the educational outcome of small liberal arts colleges in the US. Within his inquiry, the author questioned the disparity between the influence of different types of higher ed institutions.
The author noted in his article that there was a trend of increasing materialistic value among college students that had been going on for thirty years. However, the statistical data from a research conducted in 60s had concluded that attending a regular liberal arts college, that was small, residential, and mostly in New England, would have a negative effect on the students’ materialistic value.
That being said, the liberal arts college attendants were less like to view college education as a way leading to increasing income. Though whether this influence was positive or negative on students’ future well-being was debatable, their expectations of college life may have been based a different standard.
On the other hand, the small class size, frequent student-faculty interactions, and a more active involvement in students-organized activities led to the student-oriented attitude of liberal arts colleges. Compared with that of a general research universities, the faculty members in liberal arts colleges usually paid more attention to not only students’ academic life but their personal development.
As a direct result of this humane involvement of faculty members, the students graduated from these institutions tended to leave more positive comments on their college experience. Many had said that colleges were places where raucous high school students were shaped into mature adulthood. But without the intimate guidance from professors, the process would become more painful than needed to be.
"How Liberal Arts Colleges Affect Students Outcome" 