Liberal Arts · Texas

Texas colleges that awarded Liberal Arts credentials

44 colleges in Texas reported conferring Liberal Arts credentials to the federal IPEDS collection in 2023-24, and every one of them also awarded in the year before. 38 awarded a degree, and 6 awarded only a certificate. That is a record of credentials already awarded, not confirmation that a program is currently admitting.

Colleges and what they awarded

Largest first by credentials conferred in 2023-24. That order measures the size of the graduating class and nothing else: it is not a ranking, and the largest entry is often a certificate provider rather than the strongest degree program. The credential is labelled on every row for exactly that reason.

Colleges in Texas that conferred Liberal Arts credentials in 2023-24, with the number awarded and whether any was a degree.
CollegeCredentials awardedHighest level
Lone Star College System6,485Degree
Collin County Community College District1,707Degree
El Paso Community College1,507Degree
Grayson College1,025Degree
Trinity Valley Community College715Degree
McLennan Community College601Degree
Paris Junior College576Certificate only
Central Texas College400Degree
Lee College381Degree
South Texas College354Degree
Angelina College286Certificate only
Western Texas College257Degree
Panola College231Certificate only
The University of Texas at Austin221Degree
Cisco College119Certificate only
Del Mar College117Degree
Texas A&M University-Central Texas69Degree
Abilene Christian University66Degree
Navarro College65Degree
Lamar State College-Orange47Degree
Sam Houston State University41Degree
Southern Methodist University41Degree
Texas Christian University39Degree
University of Houston34Degree
Texas State Technical College26Certificate only
Texas A & M University-Commerce24Degree
San Antonio College23Degree
Concordia University Texas21Degree
Southwestern Christian College21Degree
Vernon College15Certificate only
Texas Tech University14Degree
Stephen F Austin State University12Degree
Clarendon College11Degree
Huston-Tillotson University11Degree
Rice University9Degree
Texas College8Degree
Dallas Baptist University7Degree
Palo Alto College6Degree
Sul Ross State University6Degree
Schreiner University5Degree
Northeast Lakeview College4Degree
East Texas Baptist University3Degree
Houston Christian University2Degree
St Philip's College2Degree

Looking for Liberal Arts programs in Texas? This page lists every college that reported awarding Liberal Arts credentials to the federal government in 2023-24 — 44 of them — with the credential level each one awarded. That is a record of credentials conferred, not a confirmation that a college is currently admitting students, so confirm current availability with the college before it changes where you apply.

How much of this field is in Texas

Credentials awarded
15,614
Share of U.S. total
4.6%
Colleges awarding it
44
Awarding a degree
38

Texas colleges conferred 15,614 Liberal Arts credentials in 2023-24, which is 4.6% of the 341,083 conferred across the 51 U.S. jurisdictions reporting any. Of the 44 colleges here, 38 awarded a degree and 6 awarded only a certificate. These counts measure the size of graduating classes, not program quality, and not how many students are currently enrolled.

What level those credentials were

  • Certificates13%2,099
  • Associate83%12,949
  • Bachelor's3%446
  • Graduate<1%120

Most Liberal Arts credentials awarded in Texas were associate degrees. That is 14 percentage points more weighted toward associate degrees than the field nationally, where they are 69% of credentials. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and the level a program awards is set by the program rather than by the student.

We measured how much this varies nationwide, and for most fields the credential level is set by the field rather than the state: is your major a certificate or a degree?

How concentrated it is. The single college with the largest reported graduating class in this field accounted for 42% of Texas’s Liberal Arts credentials. Activity is spread across several institutions rather than sitting with one.

What these Texas colleges cost

Median net price across the 37 of these 44 colleges that report it, by family income. Net price is what students receiving federal aid actually paid for the WHOLE college after grants and scholarships, so it is not the price of a Liberal Arts program specifically, and not a quote for any family.

0-30k
$7,575
30-48k
$8,862
48-75k
$10,614
75-110k
$17,364
110k+
$18,374

By the kind of college

The figure above averages very different institutions together. Split by federal sector, for a family earning under $30,000:

Median net price for a family earning under $30,000, by kind of college, among Texas colleges that reported awarding Liberal Artscredentials.
Kind of collegeCollegesMedian net price
Public two-year11$4,583
Public four-year15$8,245
Private11$17,782

Sector is the federal classification (IPEDS ICLEVEL and CONTROL). Private covers both nonprofit and for-profit colleges, which CampusPin does not split here because the for-profit sample in a single state is usually too small to publish a median. Each row needs at least five colleges reporting net price, so a sector with fewer is left out rather than estimated.

A family earning under $30,000 paid a median of $7,575 at these colleges, against $18,374 for a family earning over $110,000. Individual colleges vary widely around these medians. See every Texas college by income band.

What this evidence does and does not prove

This lists colleges that reported conferring credentials in this field to the federal IPEDS completions collection, in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. It does not confirm that any of them is currently admitting students to the program, and a college can appear here after deciding to close it. Confirm with the institution before it affects where you apply.

How this list was built

From the U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions collection, matched to each college on its exact federal program classification. A college appears only if it conferred credentials in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, which is what separates a running program from one that has already closed.

This page exists because its list of colleges is materially different from that of every closely related field in Texas — the fields a reader could otherwise mistake it for, such as two engineering disciplines, or nursing and practical nursing. Where a related field resolves to the same colleges, the second page would be the first one with its title changed, and CampusPin does not publish it. Sharing colleges with an unrelated field is different, and not a reason to withhold the page: in most states the same colleges award business, psychology and biology alike, which says something about the colleges rather than about the fields. We measured exactly how often that happens, and published the result: does choosing a major narrow your college list?

What Liberal Arts graduates go on to do

Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Liberal Arts, ordered by projected annual openings. National figures: openings and pay do not vary by where you studied, and the crosswalk describes related fields rather than a required or guaranteed path.

Occupations associated with Liberal Arts, with median annual wage, projected annual openings, and the education most entrants hold.
OccupationMedian payOpenings / yrMost entrants hold
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$78,49013,500Doctoral or professional degree

Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). “Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already in the occupation, not a legal requirement, an admission rule, or a guarantee of entry. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.

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