What exactly is a liberal education, and why is it important? Many see higher education as a gateway to a successful life, and, more particularly, to a successful career. A college education is an expensive undertaking, yet a typical college graduate brings home about 80 percent more earnings than she would have without her degree. With such high stakes, the tangible benefits are impossible to ignore. This vocational perspective is often placed in contrast with a liberal education that expands graduates’ horizons, giving them a greater appreciation of their world and better skills at making prudent decisions. But to the frustration of social planners, the earnings premium that arises from the enormous investment in “human capital” that a college education entails isn’t just a matter of teaching applicable skills in a business or an engineering program. College graduates are simply better than they would have been at solving problems, learning new skills, and coping with the challenges of the workplace precisely because many of them have a liberal education.
POPE FRANCIS TO CONFER NEW LAY MINISTRIES FOR FIRST TIME IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will confer the ministries of catechist, lector, and acolyte upon lay men and
