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The Liberal Studies program is CUNY's first online BA in the liberal arts and sciences. Unlike most majors, which emphasize the mastery of a single discipline, Liberal Studies affirms the intellectual and professional value of learning to think across conventional disciplinary lines. Liberal Studies majors take classes in a variety of subjects, including English, history, philosophy, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences. Liberal Studies is also a "Z-Degree", meaning that the program may be completed without purchasing a single textbook. Recognizing that returning adults bring skills and knowledge acquired through prior college study or through work and life experience, the Liberal Studies degree also has ample space for transfer credit and credit for prior learning.

Liberal Studies coursework provides opportunities to learn through inquiry and engagement with a range of humanistic perspectives. Liberal Studies students also master skills consistently valued by employers: research, writing, collaboration, ethical awareness, critical thinking, and quantitative analysis. Our array of foundational and elective courses is anchored by a Liberal Studies Proseminar, which introduces the major, and a Capstone experience, in both of which students utilize an ePortfolio to showcase and reflect on learning obtained in the program. The Capstone also features a major research project on a topic of the student’s choosing. As they progress toward graduation, students also identify a core area of study: Literature and Communication, History and Global Studies, or Ethics and Quantitative Reasoning.

The fully online program provides flexibility, and the curriculum offers a broad and efficient pathway to degree completion. Graduates will leave the program having engaged with diverse viewpoints and bodies of knowledge; gained critically informed perspectives on pressing global and local debates; and executed independent and collaborative projects to share with prospective employers and graduate schools.

Career Prospects

The BA in Liberal Studies equips students for careers in any number of fields, including education, law, communications and marketing, and the government and non-profit sectors. The degree also provides a strong foundation for further graduate study.

Just as important, our program deliberately emphasizes sought-after competencies that enhance employee capacities across the workplace spectrum: the ability to think critically, work collaboratively, read and research carefully, communicate clearly, and write persuasively. By requiring our majors to develop and continually hone these skills, the Liberal Studies program empowers students to be the agents of their professional futures.

Articulation Agreements

Articulation agreements are formal agreements between CUNY School of Professional Studies, (CUNY SPS) and two-year colleges and universities, allowing students to transfer the maximum number of credits with ease to our BA in Liberal Studies program from institutions with which we have an established transfer process in place.

• Bronx Community College - AA in Liberal Arts (PDF)
• Borough of Manhattan Community College - AA in Liberal Arts (PDF)
• LaGuardia Community College - AA in Liberal Arts Social Science and Humanities: Health Humanities option (PDF)