MYTH: A Liberal Arts Education Is Only for the Elite

Graph above provided by the the Council of Independent Colleges. Data for four-year and five-year graduation at for-profit institutions is unavailable.

Did you know that private liberal arts colleges and universities enroll about the same percentage of low-income and underrepresented students as public universities? Today, nearly one-third of all private college students are from low-income backgrounds.

All students, but especially underrepresented, low-income and first-generation, graduate at higher rates and in a shorter amount of time when they enroll in four-year, private liberal arts colleges.

 According to the US Department of Education.

At-risk students with four or more risk factors (which might include not having a high school diploma, attending part-time, having dependents, being single parents, or working full-time while enrolled) graduate from private colleges at almost twice the rate of their peers at public institutions.