ABSTRACT
This chapter examines recent history around small American liberal arts colleges and the environmental conditions that have led them to adopt professional programs. It defines a liberal arts mission in order to identify divergent change from that mission. There are seven dependent measures effectively capture the goals of a liberal arts education advanced both by Breneman and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). They are critical thinking, moral reasoning, inclination to inquire and lifelong learning, intercultural effectiveness, psychological well-being, and leadership. Liberal arts colleges' adoption of professional major programs, such as business and engineering, have become a popular tool to improve a campus's financial stability. Liberal arts colleges offering professional majors or expanded graduate programs are therefore engaged in activities outside of the liberal arts template. While elite liberal arts colleges define an ideal organizational type, colleges that become comprehensive universities face a much less vertically stratified playing field.
