A common misconception about the liberal arts is that a liberal arts degree is a luxury that most families can no longer afford. “Career education” is what we now must focus on. Due to the recent economic decline, people consider a career education more bang for their buck. In response to this Ungar write, “the future demands of citizenship will require not narrow technical or job-focused training, but rather a subtle understanding of the complex influences that shape the world we live in.” With the rise of robots taking over much of the technical work, companies are looking for workers with a broad range of knowledge and problem-solving skills. This is very similar to Scheuer’s perception of the value of a liberal arts education: “we all need to be well-informed, critical citizens. And the liberal arts prepare students for citizenship in all three senses—civic, economic, and cultural.” Scheuer agrees with Ungar in a different way, that not only do liberal arts prepare you for jobs in the economy but being and good civic and cultural citizen is also important.

Another misconception about liberal arts education is that America is the only country in the world that clings to such an old-fashioned form of postsecondary education as the liberal arts. Other countries, with more practical orientations, are running way ahead of us. People think that because we aren’t changing our education, other countries are going to surpass us. Ungar uses France as an example to show that is incorrect: “One need only look in on a student preparing for the baccalaureate examination in France to understand the distinction: Mastery of philosophical and scientific concepts is mandatory.” Although it seems like France focuses on career-oriented education, they are also learning liberal arts-associated skills, just in a different format. Scheuer concurs writing: “nations around the world are beginning to embrace the liberal arts idea that American education has done so much to promote, even as we question it.” Scheuer basically makes the same point as Ungar and includes that other countries are actually looking at us for direction in higher education.