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The Liberal Arts Are Essential

The liberal arts have always been at the core of a strong university education, emphasizing learning across a broad range of subjects. A liberal arts education is applicable to almost any career path.

Liberal arts students can choose from more than 40 majors in addition to pursuing a minor or certificate in a variety of fields. Many liberal arts majors choose to enrich their educational experiences through internships, undergraduate research, study abroad, and leadership opportunities.

Across 34 programs and areas of study, graduate students pursuing Ph.D. and M.A. degrees enjoy high-quality instruction, cutting-edge research training, and professional socialization. Top-ranked graduate programs (according to U.S. News & World Report) include Latin American History, Sociology of Populations, Psychology, Sex and Gender, and African American History.

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Our Students

The College of Liberal Arts offers students the largest number of majors of any college at UT Austin. Prospective students may choose majors in the humanities, social sciences, foreign languages, and interdisciplinary fields and can also to apply to the Plan II and Liberal Arts Honors programs.

Student Affairs serves all our undergraduate students through academic advising, programs from the Office of Student Engagement, information about scholarship and fellowship opportunities, and professional guidance from Liberal Arts Career Services.

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Global Education

The University of Texas has more than 400 approved programs abroad and liberal arts students are encouraged to build on their linguistic skills and develop an understanding of social and cultural differences by spending a summer or semester immersed in another country.

Communicating in more than one language gives you a strong advantage with employers and in the workplace. Our college offers more than 30 languages including those considered to be essential to business like French, Japanese, Russian and Hindi. The college is also home to the Texas Language Center which supports, enhances, and promotes the teaching of languages and cultures at the University.

Academic Programs

The liberal arts emphasize interdisciplinary exploration and study combined with real world experiences, helping you to develop skills that prepare you to work with very different kinds of people and ideas in many types of workplaces.

Liberal arts students can choose from more than 40 majors and also pursue a minor or certificate in a separate field of interest.

About the College

The College of Liberal Arts traces its origins to 1883, the same year the University of Texas was founded in Austin. Today's college was formed in 1970 when the College of Arts & Sciences was split into the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences.

“The College of Liberal Arts at UT Austin is an extraordinary community of students, faculty, and staff dedicated to thinking, learning, growing, doing, and changing the world.” Read the Message from Dean Ann Huff Stevens.

We are committed to creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive academic community in which all members are equally respected and valued.

Learn more about the College by reading the College of Liberal Arts Viewbook and Life & Letters, the official magazine for UT Austin's College of Liberal Arts.