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In 1843, the founders of Bishop’s University declared their goal: “to offer the country a sound and liberal education.” To this day, we remain focused on this mission, delivering a broad education in an intimate learning environment that encourages exploration and discovery.

We are proud to offer a liberal education that prepares our students to deal with complexity, diversity and change. You will learn to listen well, analyze critically, communicate effectively, and engage with others to effect change and make a difference in the world.

A Liberal Education

Liberal education is an educational philosophy that exposes students to a wide variety of disciplines and learning strategies. It includes in-depth studies in at least one specific academic area, with the ability to integrate other diverse areas.

Here you can combine various disciplines such as biology with fine arts, or economics with religion, or business with psychology, or whatever your interests may be. This style of education encourages you to ask questions, consider all angles, pursue knowledge, and gain confidence.

You will graduate as a thoughtful, capable, inspired, and self-aware individual.

How a Liberal Education Benefits You

During your time here you will become:

  • A critical thinker. You will no longer simply accept information at face value, but learn to consider it from various perspectives and to thoughtfully communicate your opinion.
  • An intentional learner. You will be purposeful and self-directed. You will learn to establish clear goals and take well-thought-out and appropriate action.
  • An integrative thinker. You will see connections in seemingly disparate information and to draw from a wide range of knowledge and angles to make decisions.
  • A conscious achiever. You will adapt the skills learned in one situation to problems encountered in another.
  • A lifelong learner. You will develop a love of learning that will last a lifetime, ensuring continual growth and evolution, personally and professionally, and academically.

Core Competencies of a Liberal Education Graduate

The skills and dispositions for mastery of a chosen discipline are consistent with the wider task of citizenship. In order that our students be able to fulfill these goals, Bishop’s is committed to helping its students gain proficiency in certain key skills, areas of knowledge and dispositions.

These eleven core competencies are:

  1. Oral and Written Communication Skills
  2. Quantitative Reasoning
  3. Critical Thinking Skills
  4. Problem Solving Abilities
  5. Information Literacy Skills
  6. Creative and Adaptive Thinking
  7. Social and Cultural Literacy
  8. Social Confidence and Inter-personal Competence
  9. Capacity for Civic Engagement
  10. Knowledge of Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability
  11. Ethical and Moral Reasoning

Experiential Learning

Experiential Learning (EL) is a critical component of your education at BU. EL means learning through hands-on experience that is available for all students, which helps connect classroom theory to real-life situations, leading to broad and long-lasting outcomes.

  • EL prepares students professionally, by giving them concrete experiences and expanding their array of skills
  • It allows students to “test-drive” their career of interest
  • Students tend to have greater success at securing jobs post-graduation
  • Students’ starting salaries tend to be higher post-graduation

Take the Leap

If you are looking for an education that offers you a broad range of knowledge across various disciplines, that challenges your thinking and broadens your perspective, that promotes curiosity and prepares you not just for a career, but to be a global citizen, then a liberal education is for you.

Ready to take the next step? Choose a program and get started!