Can a liberal arts college (LAC) be large?

[mtmind]

@1NJParent

Princeton offers a BSE and Harvard offers a BS, in addition to a BA/AB degree.

Princeton claims to offer all students, including engineering students, a “liberal arts education.”
https://admission.princeton.edu/academics/what-does-liberal-arts-mean

---

@ucbalumnus

However, its economics courses do appear to have a more “business” flavor compared to those at Pomona and other schools where the economics courses are less “business” oriented.

I agree. While they are both LACs, CMC and Pomona have different approaches across the board, each with its own focus and personality. CMC has long emphasized its own particular approach to economics and government, and this has been very important to the “flavor" of the institution as a whole, even in its motto: "Civilization prospers with commerce.”

@ucbalumnus

Economics is CMC’s largest major by far, although it makes up only about a fourth of graduates in a recent class. No other major has even a third of the number of economics graduates in a recent class. See College Navigator - Claremont McKenna College

Economics is the largest major, but surprisingly (to me at least) there are a lot more “STEM” type undergraduate degrees awarded (131) than “business" type undergraduate degrees awarded (89.)

---

Hopefully contrasting CMC and Pomona might get us back to your original question, and something @EconPop noted about the size of organizations. There is no single LAC flavor, and it may be easier to create and maintain a particular ethos if the educational community is of a certain size.