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Best Colleges for Liberal Arts & General Studies

50 Liberal Arts & General Studies programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Liberal Arts & General Studies, Excelsior University (New York) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $63,016. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Excelsior University Albany, NY	Associate's Degree	$63,016	$5,220	177	91
2	Excelsior University Albany, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$61,685	$7,925	1,240	90.8
3	American Public University System Charles Town, WV	Associate's Degree	$63,895	$9,500	1,537	89.2
4	City College of San Francisco San Francisco, CA	Associate's Degree	$96,593	—	485	88.2
5	University of Maryland Global Campus Adelphi, MD	Associate's Degree	$56,881	$7,912	2,194	87
6	Austin Community College District Austin, TX	Associate's Degree	$58,802	$9,000	1,799	86.8
7	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$58,462	$3,000	—	86.7
8	Folsom Lake College Folsom, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$71,010	—	536	86.4
9	Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH	Bachelor's Degree	$66,656	$13,023	1,250	85.6
10	Mission College Santa Clara, CA	Associate's Degree	$77,684	—	208	85.5
11	Central Arizona College Coolidge, AZ	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$58,439	$8,101	220	85.3
12	Contra Costa College San Pablo, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$73,885	—	215	85.2
13	Highline College Des Moines, WA	Associate's Degree	$54,874	$6,615	509	85.2
14	Thomas Edison State University Trenton, NJ	Bachelor's Degree	$64,011	$11,662	435	85.1
15	Indiana University-Bloomington Bloomington, IN	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$119,536	—	—	85
16	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Post-baccalaureate Certificate	$100,964	—	—	84.7
17	Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA	Graduate/Professional Certificate	$102,843	—	—	84.7
18	Spring Arbor University Spring Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$100,955	—	—	84.6
19	American Public University System Charles Town, WV	Bachelor's Degree	$79,734	—	111	84.2
20	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$87,224	—	—	84.1
21	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$79,488	—	—	83.9
22	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$77,779	—	—	83.7
23	Central Texas College Killeen, TX	Associate's Degree	$54,183	$7,126	914	83.7
24	California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$76,551	—	—	83.6
25	New Mexico Military Institute Roswell, NM	Associate's Degree	$55,247	$5,500	127	83.5
26	Palomar College San Marcos, CA	Associate's Degree	$67,708	—	182	83.2
27	Salt Lake Community College Salt Lake City, UT	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$52,726	$5,375	1,031	83.2
28	University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$73,776	—	—	83.2
29	Mission College Santa Clara, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$61,206	—	553	82.8
30	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$71,280	—	—	82.7
31	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$71,307	—	—	82.7
32	Berkeley City College Berkeley, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$62,672	—	314	82.5
33	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$147,998	$11,935	11	82.5
34	Smith College Northampton, MA	Master's Degree	$70,680	—	—	82.5
35	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$73,089	$18,625	253	82.5
36	Brightpoint Community College Chester, VA	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$70,407	—	—	82.4
37	United States University San Diego, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$70,423	—	—	82.4
38	Wesleyan University Middletown, CT	Doctoral Degree	$70,261	—	—	82.3
39	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Master's Degree	$69,713	—	—	82.3
40	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$68,818	—	—	82.1
41	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Non-Credential Program (Preparatory Coursework/Teacher Certification)	$68,996	—	—	82.1
42	Howard College Big Spring, TX	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$68,723	—	—	82.1
43	National University San Diego, CA	Associate's Degree	$60,134	$10,500	137	81.9
44	College of the Canyons Santa Clarita, CA	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$52,488	$6,625	1,635	81.8
45	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma	$67,875	—	—	81.8
46	Georgetown University Washington, DC	Bachelor's Degree	$112,722	—	18	81.7
47	Life University Marietta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$78,151	—	34	81.6
48	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$96,510	—	20	81.5
49	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Master's Degree	$119,127	—	15	81.5
50	Champlain College Burlington, VT	Bachelor's Degree	$91,533	$12,500	24	81.5

🔍 Filter Liberal Arts & General Studies by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Liberal Arts & General Studies

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Liberal Arts & General Studies — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Folsom Lake College Folsom, CA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$71,010	—	86.4
2	Mission College Santa Clara, CA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$77,684	—	85.5
3	Central Arizona College Coolidge, AZ Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$58,439	—	85.3
4	Contra Costa College San Pablo, CA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$73,885	—	85.2
5	Highline College Des Moines, WA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$54,874	—	85.2
6	Thomas Edison State University Trenton, NJ Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$64,011	—	85.1
7	Bay Path University Longmeadow, MA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$102,843	85%	84.7
8	Central Texas College Killeen, TX Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$54,183	—	83.7
9	California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$76,551	76%	83.6
10	University of North Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$73,776	84%	83.2
11	Berkeley City College Berkeley, CA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$62,672	—	82.5
12	Brightpoint Community College Chester, VA Strong Liberal Arts & General Studies outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$70,407	—	82.4

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Liberal Arts & General Studies field (CIP 24.01) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Liberal Arts & General Studies programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Liberal Arts & General Studies program?+

By our outcome score, Excelsior University (New York) ranks #1 for Liberal Arts & General Studies, with median graduate earnings of $63,016.

How are these Liberal Arts & General Studies programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Liberal Arts & General Studies programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.