Liberal arts college

In the United States, a liberal arts college refers to an institution of higher learning which exclusively or mainly grants undergraduate degrees, such as the Bachelor of Arts (B. A.) and Bachelor of Sciences (B. S.)

A university, in constrast, which usually has one (or more) undergraduate "colleges," and also has "graduate schools," which require an undergraduate degree for entrance. A university might have a medical school, a law school, a business school, possibly schools of agriculture, music, veterinary medicine, divinity, etc.

The phrase "liberal arts" was coined in classical times. It traditionally included the "trivium" of grammar, rhetoric, and logic, and the "quadrivium" of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. One liberal arts college expresses its modern meaning thus:

A successful undergraduate education should primarily develop the essential skills of writing, researching, articulating and defending ideas, and working with others—the skills that prepare graduates for leadership in most any career.