Have you heard the news? The liberal arts, whose study antedates that old peripatetic from Stagira, are in jeopardy. In fact, they are in such a weakened state that public intellectuals are busy writing books with titles like In Defense of a Liberal Education, as if the study of man and man’s place in the cosmos are in real danger of disappearing. Nonetheless, as long as we continue to wonder about our world and ourselves, there will always be a place for liberal education. And in fact, the products of the liberal arts—your little Aristotle, Aquinas, and Austen—appear to be doing much better than advertised on the job market even while the content of their education is in decline.

Last year, the Association of American Colleges and Universities released a report on the earnings and long-term career paths of liberal arts students entitled How Liberal Arts and Science Majors Fare in Employment. The study, authored by Debra Humphreys and Patrick Kelly, serves as a nice counterpoint to the gloom and doom reports so faithfully parroted by the media and major presidential candidates.