If you are starting a college search process, you have undoubtably heard the term “Liberal Arts”. Liberal arts colleges give students access to a wide range of academic subjects and career options. This broad-based area of study includes the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics.

One of the many things you’ll hear on school visits and from college recruiters is a school’s student-to-faculty ratio. While colleges hope that their ratio will encourage students to apply, many prospective applicants are not exactly sure how this statistic can affect their experience. A low or high student-to-faculty ratio can impact it in many ways.

We have all heard a lot in the news recently about colleges and universities merging or closing. This is not a new phenomenon, and higher education certainly is not “going away”. Does it need to be constantly evolving, and traditionally move at a glacial pace? Absolutely, to both.

But looking over the list, none of colleges and universities who have merged or shuttered have really been a shock, at least not to date. Struggling, niche religious schools and for-profit schools dominate these lists.