has been ranked the top undergraduate school in Canada more times than any other university Liberal arts colleges are found in all parts of the world. Notwithstanding the European origins of the concept of liberal arts education, today the term is largely associated with the United States, and most self-identified liberal arts colleges worldwide are built on the American model. The Global Liberal Arts Alliance, which incorporates institutions on five continents, refers to itself as "an international, multilateral partnership of American style liberal arts institutions". In 2009, liberal arts colleges from around the world formed the
Global Liberal Arts Alliance, an international consortium and "matching service" to help liberal arts colleges in different countries deal with their shared problems. Keep in mind,
U.S. News & World Report no longer provides rankings for liberal arts colleges at "global" universities. These colleges are members of the top 2,000 universities
U.S. News & World Report ranks around the world.
In North America is one of the top ranked liberal arts college in the United States Liberal arts colleges in Canada include
Acadia University,
Bishop's University,
Glendon College of
York University,
Mount Allison University,
St. Francis Xavier University,
St. Thomas University,
Trent University, and the
University of King's College.
In South America The leading organization is the National Institute of Educators of Liberal Arts and Artistic Education "Instituto Nacional Superior del Profesorado en Artes" located in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, initially created in 1923 by
Ernesto de la Cárcova, under the name "Escuela Nacional Superior de Bellas Artes", the original school of Liberal Arts building became the
Ernesto de la Cárcova Museum. From 1983 to 2013 the institute was part of the IUNA National University Institute for the Arts, and since 2014, the Ruanova Institute of Performing Arts and Higher Education, named after
Maria Ruanova, became part of the
UNA Universidad Nacional de las Artes, (UNA) National University of the Arts
In Europe , in Europe With the exception of pioneering institutions such as
Franklin University Switzerland, established as a Europe-based, US-style liberal arts college in 1969,
Saint Louis University Madrid Campus, established in 1967, and
Richmond, The American International University in London, established in 1972 only recently have efforts been made to import the American liberal arts college model to Europe. In the Netherlands, universities have opened constituent liberal arts colleges under the terminology "
university college" since the late 1990s. This trend was spearheaded by Dutch sociologist
Hans Adriaansens, who was "frustrated with the large-scale climate of university education in the Netherlands". Dutch university colleges of this kind include
Leiden University College The Hague,
University College Utrecht,
University College Maastricht,
Amsterdam University College,
University College Roosevelt,
Erasmus University College,
University College Groningen and
University College Tilburg. Other liberal arts colleges in continental Europe include
The American University of Paris,
Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts in Slovakia,
Jacobs University Bremen,
Bard College Berlin, the
Leuphana University of Lüneburg with their Bachelor program Studium Individuale and the University College Freiburg in Germany. Bard College Berlin was founded in Berlin in 1999 as the European College of Liberal Arts, and in 2009 it introduced a 4-year Bachelor of Arts program in Value Studies taught in English and leading to an interdisciplinary degree in the humanities. In the Czech Republic, the
Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, a part of
Charles University started providing liberal arts education in 1994 as the Institute for Liberal Education and gained full academic autonomy in 2000. Although liberal arts colleges as such remain rare, liberal arts degree programs are beginning to establish themselves in Europe. For example, University College Dublin offers the degree, as does
St. Marys University College Belfast, both institutions coincidentally on the island of Ireland. In 2010 the University of Winchester introduced its Modern Liberal Arts undergraduate program, the first of its kind in the UK. In 2012,
University College London began its interdisciplinary
Arts and Sciences BASc degree (which has kinship with the liberal arts model) with 80 students.
King's College London launched the BA Liberal Arts, which has a slant towards arts, humanities and social sciences subjects. The
New College of the Humanities also launched a new liberal education programme. The four-year bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences at University College Freiburg is the first of its kind in Germany. It started in October 2012 with 78 students. The first Liberal Arts degree program in
Sweden was established at
Gothenburg University in 2011, followed by a Liberal Arts Bachelor Programme at
Uppsala University's Campus
Gotland in the autumn of 2013. Liberal arts colleges in Italy include
John Cabot University and
The American University of Rome in Rome. The University College of North Staffordshire, founded in 1950 in the United Kingdom, was frequently referred to as the "Keele Experiment" because of its innovative curriculum and emphasis on a scholarly community resident together on campus. The college became
Keele University in 1962 and continues to reflect many features of the liberal arts college model. It has been described as the closest example of a liberal arts college in the UK. This distinctiveness was reinforced with the opening of the new Keele Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2016. In September 2016
Chavagnes Studium, a Liberal Arts centre in France, began offering a 2-year intensive BA in the Liberal Arts with a Catholic perspective.
In Asia in Japan in Karachi
Lingnan University in
Hong Kong was established as a liberal arts college in the early 20th century, although it subsequently became a full-fledged
university.
Ginling College in Nanjing similarly followed the model of an American liberal arts college from its founding in 1915 until forced to conform with the Nationalist educational system in the 1930s. In Zhuhai City,
Hong Kong Baptist University and
Beijing Normal University opened
United International College, which adopted the liberal arts college education system.
International Christian University in
Tokyo, which opened in 1953, defines itself as "Japan's first liberal arts college". Other Japanese liberal arts programs include the other four members of the Global Five which includes
School of International Liberal Studies at
Waseda University,
Akita International University,
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and
Sophia University's Faculty of Liberal Arts.
Yale-NUS College was started in 2011 as
Singapore's first liberal arts college as a collaboration between
Yale University in the United States and the
National University of Singapore. It attracted controversy over concerns that Yale was compromising on its liberal values by opening a college in a country where there are strong curbs on freedom of speech and assembly, with Yale faculty members expressing their "concern regarding the history of lack of respect for civil and political rights in the state of Singapore". In response, many existing faculty and students have noted that there has been little repression of freedom of expression at the college and that it provides a great opportunity to promote the liberal arts in Asia. In August 2021, NUS announced the closure of Yale-NUS College, with the Class of 2025 being the last cohort to receive an NUS degree. It will be replaced by NUS College, a merger between Yale-NUS College and the NUS University Scholars Programme.
Kalayaan College in the Philippines is one of the best examples of a liberal arts college in the country. Located in the
New Manila district of
Quezon City, it was founded in 2000 by former educators from the
University of the Philippines led by
José Abueva, President of the University from 1987 to 1993 and current Chairman of the KC Board of Trustees. It offers the same kind of education provided by UP to qualified students who are unable to enter the country's premier state university because of its limited college quotas. The curriculum and grading system is patterned after the academic programs and the grade structure offered by the
University of the Philippines and is composed of administrators and faculty members who graduated from UP, and/or are also members of the UP academic community.
Sogang University was founded as
South Korea's first liberal arts college. In 1960, Jesuits founded Sogang College. Although, it became
Sogang University in 1970, it is still following model of American liberal arts college in many aspects.
Seoul National University in South Korea established the College of Liberal Studies in 2007, initially as an educational project. However, after being established as a proper college in the SNU, it has become the only college that allows students to create their own major. Liberal arts colleges in India include undergraduate UG or bachelor's degree/diploma and postgraduate PG or master's degree/diploma as well as doctoral PhD and postdoctoral studies and research, in this academic discipline. The highly ranked
IIT Guwahati offers a There are also programs such as
Ajeenkya DY Patil University in
Pune,
India,
Forman Christian College in
Lahore,
Pakistan,
Aga Khan University and
Habib University in
Karachi, Pakistan and FLAME University in
Pune,
Maharashtra,
India, referred to as India's 'first college of
Liberal Education'. The University is a member of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance has also recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (
MoU) with
Nuffield College,
University of Oxford. Also,
Ahmedabad University, a private, non-profit university offers its students a liberal education which is focused on research and interdisciplinary learning
. in Israel.
Baghdad College has offered a liberal arts curriculum since the early 20th century, but despite its name it has never offered more than a
high school education.
Effat University in Saudi Arabia, a women's institution, is a member of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance. Israel's first liberal arts college,
Shalem College, was established in 2013. The Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities (JSLH) at O. P. Jindal Global University in Sonipat offers undergraduate programs fostering critical thinking, research skills, and a broad-based liberal arts education. One of its key offerings is the BA (Hons) in Liberal Arts & Humanities, which combines humanities, social sciences, and language studies with elective specialization.
In Africa in Morocco. Three institutions in Africa are members of the Global Liberal Arts Alliance:
Al Akhawayn University in Morocco,
American University of Cairo in Egypt, and
American University of Nigeria. The Egyptian and Nigerian schools are universities with a liberal arts component, but Al Akhawayn was founded on the model of an American liberal arts college.
Ashesi University is a liberal arts college located in
Berekuso, Ghana, established in 2002. The school's president,
Patrick Awuah, described the school's mission as "educating a new generation of leaders in Africa who think ethically and who are problem solvers and have the ability and the desire to confront problems on the continent".
In Australia Campion College is a Roman Catholic dedicated liberal arts college located in the western suburbs of Sydney. Founded in 2006, it is the first tertiary educational liberal arts college of its kind in Australia. Campion offers a Bachelor of Arts in the Liberal Arts as its sole undergraduate degree. The key disciplines studied are history, literature, philosophy and theology. The Millis Institute is the School of Liberal Arts at Christian Heritage College located in Brisbane. It offers a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts in which students can choose to major in Philosophy, Theology, History or Literature. A new School of Liberal Arts has been formed in the
University of Wollongong; the new Arts course entitled 'Western Civilisation' was first offered in 2020. The interdisciplinary curriculum focuses on the classic intellectual and artistic literature of the
Western tradition. Courses in the liberal arts have also been developed at the
University of Sydney and
University of Notre Dame. ==Lists of schools==