The Master of Liberal Arts program at ACU offers students who have completed a baccalaureate degree a means of formal personal career enrichment through the interdisciplinary M.L.A. degree.
Liberal arts study is for anyone with a bachelor's, master's or even doctoral degree, who wants to resume the "unfinished business" of a liberal education, the quest for knowledge about ourselves and our world.
Liberal arts study at ACU permits the student to explore a wide range of disciplines and personal interests at the graduate level. The M.L.A. student may take graduate courses from any area in which he or she can meet the specific course prerequisites. Thus, the student can gain understanding in a broad graduate curriculum within the context of Christian higher education. The program is not designed to produce a career credential as are more traditional master's degree programs.
The liberal arts program seeks the intellectual development and professional enhancement of adult students. Students typically select courses in the humanities, social sciences, business and religion.
In the humanities, courses in areas such as literature and history seek to address such enduring questions as what we are to live for and how we should conduct ourselves.
In the social sciences, courses in such areas as psychology, sociology and family studies endeavor to assist the student in forming a critical awareness of the complexity of human affairs and interrelationships and in establishing the ethical framework for making informed decisions about human affairs and the social institutions that promote orderly human discourse.
In business, courses in such areas as management and finance endeavor to assist the student in understanding the theoretical and practical framework of everyday human interchange. In religion, a wide range of courses address the nature of man's being and purpose and man's interaction with fellowman and with God. Religion courses also include application courses in areas such as missions or biblical teaching.
The liberal arts student will be responsible for helping to design his or her degree plan because each is crafted to the student's individual needs and desires for higher education. The degree plan must meet the parameters given in the degree requirements section of the current graduate catalog. In many cases, the student can help design a degree program that can be completed with evening and short courses. In others, the student will find it necessary to participate in regular day classes to gain the experiences desired.
The liberal arts student will first work with the M.L.A. adviser to determine dominant areas of interest and an appropriate graduate committee. The student's committee will then work with the Graduate School for approval of the individual M.L.A. degree program. The degree program should be approved by the end of the second semester of enrollment.
The liberal arts student may apply to take courses in any graduate department of the university, but should remember that certain courses have specified prerequisites. In many cases, the student will require special admission to the course by the instructor and the chair of the department. Appropriate research competencies must be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the student's graduate degree committee, the graduate dean, and the M.L.A. adviser. Specific courses may be required by the degree committee.
Not only do liberal arts students have access to the courses and faculty of the university but they also have access to the university library and computer facilities which reach throughout the world via the Internet and World Wide Web. The liberal arts student has access to liberal education to its fullest extent.
