liberal education

American  

noun

1. an education based primarily on the liberal arts, emphasizing the development of intellectual abilities as opposed to the acquisition of professional skills.

2. wide experience and education.

   Foreign travel gave him a liberal education.

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Example Sentences

In that sense, “The Rise and Fall of Rational Control” is an exercise in the liberal education that was already threatened when Mr. Mansfield began teaching History of Modern Political Philosophy in the 1960s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

“I don’t think you can have a classical liberal education, for example, without grappling with Marx,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 5, 2023

This is the gift of liberal education: the invitation to read a book and think about both the variety and the common threads of human experience across time, space and culture.

From New York Times • Sep. 4, 2020

A liberal education is most students’ last chance to plumb society’s abysses with wise guidance.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2019

He advocated teaching poor as well as rich children, breaking down a subject to its elements, and a broad, liberal education along with teacher training.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin