Pasco-Hernando State College Volume XIV, Issue I Spring 2020 | Page 17

A LIBERAL ARTS
EDUCATION:
I
T H E G R E AT D E B AT E
n recent years, there has been great concentration
on creating workforce programs in an effort to put
Americans to work, again. In fact, it was only a few
years ago that Pasco-Hernando State College added
workforce programs in aviation, cybersecurity and
engineering technology; all three programs created
to help meet local workforce and economic needs in
Hernando and Pasco counties. These programs offer
industry certificates and associate in science degrees.
It is the continual additions of workforce programs
that has many asking, ‘Has the value of a liberal arts
education and its accompanied Associate in Arts degree
decreased and is the AA degree on its way to becoming
obsolete?’
In academic year 2016–17, postsecondary institutions
conferred one million associate’s degrees. According
to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
over two-thirds, or 69 percent, of these degrees were
concentrated in three fields of study: liberal arts and
sciences, general studies, and humanities. These
numbers are no surprise to PHSC Vice President of
Academic Affairs and Faculty Development and College
Provost Stanley Giannet, Ph.D. “The liberal arts, which
are addressed in the general education curriculum of the
AA, provide students the exposure to not only necessary
interdisciplinary concepts, but also to fundamental
foundational cognitive and interpersonal skills that
are scalable throughout the personal and professional
development of the student.”
The Associate in Arts (AA) degree program is a 60
credit-hour program designed to prepare students
for transfer to a university; it serves as the foundation
for a bachelor’s degree. PHSC’s Associate in Arts
degree program provides academic courses that are
equal in content and quality to those at Florida’s state
universities. AA degree seeking student, Sienna Grisanti,
says she chose to pursue an AA degree because it was
easily accepted at state accredited colleges and she
knew she wanted to further her education at a four year
university. A benefit of obtaining an AA degree at PHSC
and other Florida state colleges, is the guarantee by a
statewide articulation agreement of a seamless transfer
to one of Florida’s public universities or state colleges at
the junior level.
“I feel that getting my AA degree at a community college
like PHSC was a smart choice, considering it gave me
time to exactly decide my major. My goal is to major in
Secondary Education concentrating in English at USF
and hopefully complete my AA by the end of Summer
Session 1 of 2020,” said Grisanti.
PHSC’s enrollment numbers come in above the NCES
statistics. From 2015–2017 the percentage of students
seeking an AA degree, as opposed to an AS degree,
averaged between 82-84 percent. These numbers
are based on an approximate 10,500 students (non-
duplicated head count) enrolled as AA degree seeking
students—clearly contradictory to the general belief that
the value of an education in the liberal arts is decreasing.
A common misperception of the value in an Associate
in Arts degree comes by way of employers. Yes, it is
true that employers seek individuals who are trained
and skilled in specific workforce industries; however,
the Liberal Arts is integral to career readiness. A college
degree lets employers know that you’ve learned skills
in a specific field. And with a degree in liberal arts,
the skills you’ve honed include those that employers
want in their workers. According to studies from
SPRING 2020
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