Outcomes of Liberal Learning

The total effect of the knowledge and skills described in the following goals for liberal learning results in the MSU graduate having the potential to be an outstanding leader – perceiving and developing opportunities, actively fostering and guiding change, and applying skills and knowledge to understand and articulate complex issues of work, community, and public life. Students who complete an undergraduate degree program at Michigan State University are expected to demonstrate:

INTEGRATED JUDGMENT

The MSU graduate will effectively synthesize specialized discipline-based knowledge with a broad-based liberal arts education, understand the importance of life-long learning, and make decisions that reflect humane, social, ethical, and aesthetic sensibilities developed through coherent curricular and co-curricular activities.

ADVANCED COMMUNICATION SKILLS

The MSU graduate will be a competent writer and speaker, able to write and speak effectively in a variety of situations and to a variety of audiences, able to write and speak with authority within a professional area, and able to write and speak effectively and persuasively as a citizen in the public arena.

CULTURAL COMPETENCE

The MSU graduate will have explored global, cultural, social, and intellectual diversity and will value the experiential and intellectual diversity of the academic community.

ANALYTICAL THINKING

The MSU graduate will be a critical user of knowledge, adept at using current technologies to access information and having the ability to analyze complex information critically, using multiple modes of inquiry (i.e., scientific, artistic, literary, and information methodologies).

LITERACY IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

The MSU graduate will demonstrate ability to formulate, evaluate, and communicate conclusions and inferences from quantitative information, employing analytical arguments and reasoning built upon fundamental concepts and skills of science, mathematics, statistics, and computing.

EFFECTIVE CITIZENSHIP

The MSU graduate will have a sense of responsibility for a dynamic, democratic society that offers broad opportunities and requires the ability to function in an interdependent world.