A College of Arts and Sciences or School of Arts and Sciences is most commonly a unit within a university which focuses on instruction of the liberal arts and pure sciences, especially in North America and the Philippines, although they frequently include programs and faculty in fine arts, social sciences, and other disciplines. In contrast, an "art school" or "college of arts" usually refers to a unit or institution which cultivates visual or performing arts, while the phrasing "liberal arts college" usually refers to a standalone institution.
There are many alternative names, of which the most common include College (or School) of
- Arts and Humanities
- Arts and Letters
- Arts and Social Sciences
- Letters
- Letters and Science
- Liberal Arts
- Liberal Arts and Sciences
Typically, Colleges of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences at a non-specialized university include a rather large number of departments offering a significant number of majors/minors or courses of study. Such departments/majors commonly include mathematics and "pure sciences" such as biology, chemistry, and physics for which B.S. and maybe M.S. degrees are offered, as well as a significant selection of liberal arts. The "liberal arts" may include social sciences such as psychology, sociology, anthropology and other social studies such as history, geography, political science, etc. and language studies including English and other languages, linguistics, writing, literature, and communication arts and a variety of humanities and other fields of study. The sciences may offer B.S. and maybe M.S. degrees, and the other majors may offer B.A. and maybe M.A. degrees. Humanities may include such fields of study as philosophy, classical studies, theology or religious studies, and certain others. Other fields of study may be lumped into a College of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences; however, certain specialized and professional fields are taught in more specialized colleges or schools such as a College of Engineering, College of Business Administration, College of Education, or a College of Fine Arts and certain graduate level schools such as law schools, medical schools, dental schools, etc. The situation may also vary between continents and their various countries.
In many non-specialized universities, the College of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences is one of the largest colleges on the campus, and many students even from other colleges or schools take and are even required to take courses offered by the College of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences, such as mathematics and sometimes certain sciences. A College of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences commonly has a core curriculum which all students in the College must take, regardless of their major in the College. Such a core curriculum may specify that certain courses by their students must be taken, or may require elective courses to be taken within certain areas to provide a well-rounded education for each student. Other colleges or schools within a university could have different core curriculum requirements for their students. For each major and minor field of study, certain minimum courses and usually some electives must be taken within that area for a degree.
Such Colleges/Schools of (Liberal) Arts and Sciences include the following, sorted by parent institution:
University
United States
- University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences
- American University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Arkansas J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences
- OSU College of Liberal Arts Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts
- Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
- Baruch College Weissman School of Arts and Sciences
- Boston College Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
- Boston University College of Arts and Sciences
- University at Buffalo College of Arts & Sciences
- University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science
- University of California, Davis College of Letters and Science
- UCLA College of Letters and Science
- University of California, Riverside College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
- Carnegie Mellon University Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
- Carnegie Mellon University Mellon College of Science
- College of Arts and Sciences (Case Western Reserve University)
- University of Central Florida College of Arts and Humanities
- University of Cincinnati McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
- Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences
- Drexel University College of Arts and Sciences
- Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences
- Duquesne University McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
- East Carolina University Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences
- Emory College of Arts and Sciences
- Fairfield College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Florida Atlantic University Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
- Florida International University College of Arts and Sciences
- Florida State University College of Arts and Sciences
- Georgetown College (Georgetown University)
- Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Georgia Institute of Technology Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts
- University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences
- Howard University College of Arts & Sciences
- Harvard College
- Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
- Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
- University of Illinois at Chicago College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Indiana University Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences
- Jacksonville University College of Arts and Sciences
- Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
- Johnson & Wales University College of Arts & Sciences
- University of Kansas College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences
- Miami University College of Arts and Science
- University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
- University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts
- University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Arts and Sciences
- National University College of Arts and Sciences
- College of Arts and Sciences (University of Nebraskaâ€"Lincoln)
- College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada
- New York University College of Arts and Science
- New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science
- University of North Dakota College of Arts and Sciences
- Northwestern University Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
- Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters
- Nova Southeastern University Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences
- Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences
- Oklahoma State University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences
- Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences
- State University of New York College of Arts and Sciences at Potsdam
- Purdue University College of Liberal Arts
- University of Richmond School of Arts & Sciences
- RIT College of Liberal Arts
- University of Rochester College of Arts Sciences and Engineering
- School of Arts and Sciences (Rutgers University)
- Saginaw Valley State University College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences
- Saint Louis University College of Arts and Sciences
- San Diego State University College of Arts & Letters
- Savannah State University College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
- Seattle University College of Arts and Sciences
- Seton Hall University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of South Carolina Upstate College of Arts and Sciences
- Suffolk University College of Arts and Sciences
- Syracuse University College of Arts and Sciences
- Texas A&M College of Liberal Arts
- Texas Tech University College of Arts & Sciences
- Towson University College of Liberal Arts
- Tufts University School of Arts and Sciences
- Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science
- Wake Forest University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
- University of Missouri College of Arts and Science
- University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Virginia College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences
- University of West Florida College of Arts and Sciences
- Washington University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Wisconsinâ€"Madison College of Letters and Science
- University of Wisconsinâ€"Milwaukee College of Letters and Science
- Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
United Kingdom
- University College London Arts and Sciences
- University of the Arts London Art and Science
Philippines
- Cavite State University, College of Arts and Sciences
- Cebu Normal University, College of Arts and Sciences
- Central Philippine University College of Arts and Sciences
- De La Salle University College of Liberal Arts
- Far Eastern University â€" Institute of Arts and Sciences
- Manila Central University, College of Arts and Sciences
- Mariano Marcos State University (Batac, Ilocos Norte), College of Arts and Sciences
- Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, College of Arts and Sciences
- Polytechnic University of the Philippines College of Arts
- Silliman University College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Asia and the Pacific, College of Arts and Sciences
- University of the Philippines Diliman, College of Arts and Letters
- University of the Philippines Los Baños, College of Arts and Sciences
- University of the Philippines Manila, College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Arts and Letters
- Xavier University â€" Ateneo de Cagayan, College of Arts and Sciences
- University of Cordilleras, College of Arts and Science, Baguio City, Philippines
Independent
A number of independent institutions, almost entirely postsecondary, also refer to themselves as a college of arts and sciences. These include the following:
India
- Alpha Arts & Science College
- Dr. MGR-Janaki College of Arts and Science for Women
- GTN Arts & Science College
- Ideal College of Arts and Sciences
- Arts and Science College, Karwar
- KG College of Arts and Science
- Kongu Arts and Science College
- Arts and Science college, Honnavar
- Mar Gregorios College of Arts and Science, Chennai
- Mary Matha Arts & Science College
- MES's M. M. College of Arts and Science, Sirsi
- MVM Arts and Science College
- PSG College of Arts and Science
- R. Shankar Memorial Arts and Science College
- Rathinam College of Arts and Science
- Shri Nehru Maha Vidyalaya College of Arts & Sciences
- T S Narayanaswami College of Arts and Science
- V.O.C. Arts & Science College
- Aditanar College of Arts & Science
- University Arts and Science College, Warangal
Japan
- The College of Liberal Arts, International Christian University in Tokyo
- College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Komaba campus) in Tokyo
Nigeria
- Rivers State College of Arts and Science in Port Harcourt
- Akwa Ibom State College of Art and Science in Ikono
United States
- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
- North Springs Charter School of Arts and Sciences
- Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
