Liberal Studies at Seattle University is the interdisciplinary study of the arts and sciences, and it links reflective cognition and community engagement in a way that cultivates humanity. It is for students who have decided to gain a wide-ranging education rather than be narrowly focused.

The Liberal Studies major affords the flexibility to structure your own program while providing you with solid preparation for a rewarding career or graduate school.

Students work closely with an adviser, focusing their plan of study through project-centered work on complex, real-world problems. Coursework is an exciting intellectual and social experience, anchored in strategic major courses and mentoring relationships with professors.

Why pursue a Liberal Studies degree? Because businesses and communities need creative problem-solvers, leaders and integrative thinkers. Because it is no longer enough to be narrowly trained in one discipline. Majors obtain broad intellectual experience and specialized skills.

• Career opportunities for Liberal Studies majors are boundless. Recent graduates are pursuing M.A.’s and Ph.D.’s, teaching K-8 in the U.S. and Europe, working in medical fields, law enforcement, non-profits, business management, major tech companies, communications and more.   

• Marketable knowledge and skills come from being trained as an interdisciplinarian: project-management, effective communication, teamwork, leadership, strategic thinking, creativity and enterprise.
• Every major gains work experience in the community through the Seattle University Center for Service and Community Engagement.

Degree Offered:  Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies 

Major:  Students can major (60 credits) in Liberal Studies, and easily coordinate their Liberal Studies major with a second major in another discipline or with a minor.  

Unique to Liberal Studies: 

• The Electronic Portfolio is established by majors in their first course and maintained through graduation (a first at SU). As majors progress, they gather accomplishments, reflect on them, and can invite friends, family, and prospective employers to view accomplishments.

• Project-Centered Coursework is an innovative curricular design in which majors tackle real-world problems. Majors engage in complex tasks that include planning, design, problem-solving, creating artifacts, and communicating results. Rather than supervisors, faculty become mentors to engaged and self-motivated students. 

• The Consortium of Interdisciplinary Scholars is housed in Liberal Studies – 90 esteemed professors from every school on campus, Business, Law, Education, etc., willing to mentor our students.   

• Leadership Seminars and Youth Development are uniquely offered in Liberal Studies, in association with Seattle University Youth Initiative and the Center for Service and Community Engagement. Majors secure real world experience working with school children, non-profits, and the community.

• K-8 Teacher preparation courses, a specialty possible within the major, are held at Bailey Gatzert Elementary, blocks away from SU. Interested majors work tutoring children as part of the course and then attend class on site.

“Liberal Studies Majors, for me, are the most remarkable students on campus. They seek more than narrow disciplinary work, and instead pursue broader understanding of complex real-world problems by integrating insights drawn from these disciplines. In other words, they work and think at the most challenging, academic level possible – interdisciplinary scholarship.”  - Sven Arvidson, Ph.D., Program Director