The number of applicants in liberal arts programs is fluctuating at N.C. State, while the number of people enrolling in liberal arts is decreasing at universities across the nation.
A recent article in The New York Times reported that the number of people majoring in humanities has declined steadily since the end of the 20th century. However, Jeff Braden, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, said he isn’t concerned about the decrease interest because CHASS has experienced steady and continued interest in the past few years.
Undergraduate enrollment in CHASS peaked in the fall of 2010. It has since declined each year from 4,311 in 2010 to 3,586 in 2013.
Dara Leeder, the director of Student Recruitment and Retention for CHASS, said the decreasing numbers of recent years are partially due to the University’s cap on enrollment. The number of faculty members, advisors and classrooms have to be taken into consideration when deciding how many applicants can be admitted, Leeder said.
“CHASS has been seeking to increase its number of graduate students,” Leeder said. “At this time, a rise in graduate students necessitates a slight decrease in the number of undergraduates so that the overall college enrollment stays stable.”
However, graduate school enrollment numbers don’t look much different from undergraduate numbers. In fall 2010, 929 graduate students enrolled. That number has declined each year to 815 in 2013.
The number of people applying to CHASS follows a similar trajectory to that of enrollment. In fall of 2010, 3,348 freshman applied to CHASS, which is the largest number of applicants in the past 10 years. That number has declined each year until 2012, when 3,074 freshmen applied. In 2013, 3,277 applied.
In contrast to applicant and enrollment numbers, selectivity has increased each year, according to Leeder. Selectivity is determined by dividing the number of admissions by the number of applicants. In 2010, 42.7 percent of students were admitted. In 2013, The University admitted 35.5 percent of applicants.
Leeder said there has been an increase in applicants’ standardized test scores, GPA, high school class rank, extracurricular activities, leadership activities and volunteer activities.
CHASS also receives the largest number of internal transfer students, Leeder said. About 30 percent of First Year College students transfer into CHASS each year. CHASS currently graduates the most baccalaureate students at the University, according to Leeder.
“You need to look not only at where students begin their college careers but where they end up to see the full picture,” Leeder said.
Braden said students’ interests are changing. Traditional humanities degrees, such as English, philosophy and religious studies, may be attracting fewer students, but there is greater interest in others, including international and ethnic studies, according to Braden.
Some CHASS students have expressed fears that their majors won’t land them jobs.
“Adults make me feel worried. My nuclear engineering peers make me feel worried,” said Hayley Lemmons, a sophomore in English with a teaching education.
Lemmons, who switched out of her original creative writing concentration because it “felt fluffy,” said she worries only because other people make her feel worried but she said she thinks it will be alright.
Jordan Sturgis, a junior in political science, said she fears not being able to find a job in the current job market.
“I don’t think I want to go into law school,” Sturgis said. “I think I want to get my masters and eventually my Ph.D. and do research and teach at the university level.”
Despite student fears, Leeder said she believes the job market actually favors students with CHASS degrees because they can adapt to the changing job market and are flexible.
“CHASS students have less of a clear path to a career, but I think it’s always been that way,” Leeder said.
Braden said liberal arts degrees are effective for the economy because they allow students “to develop, to create, to adapt and to change as the economy changes.”
“Most liberal arts students go out and get jobs because they speak well, they write well, they think critically, they work well with other people,” Braden said.