Following a national trend, the University's College of Liberal Arts' enrollment has increased 24 percent since 1986.

The college's faculty is too small to deal with the increased enrollment and the University's new General Education requirements, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts Jeannette Bragger said.

Thousands of students who are not in the College of Liberal Arts are also taking liberal art courses, Bragger said.

In many growing departments, like the foreign language departments, it is becoming hard to accommodate everyone, Bragger said.

The fastest growing majors are history and English, and foreign language classes enrollment increases just as fast, Bragger said. Many students want to acquire proficiency in languages as a minor or to enhance their business education, Bragger said.

Many students enter the college as juniors from the Division of Undergraduate Studies, Smeal College of Business Administration and the School of Communications, said Maya Spence, Liberal Arts Advising Center coordinator.

The College of Liberal Arts attracts students because of the variety of majors and the broad background it provides, Spence said.

"Most students will work in four to five career fields in their lifetime. This means they have to be more and more flexible," Spence said.

In the competitive job market, students with liberal arts majors can adapt better to different jobs, said Catherine Simmons, assistant director of programmings for Career Development and Placement Services.

Some students agreed.

"It makes you a more well-rounded individual," said Dana Sime (freshman-history). "It will help me in life because I will gain knowledge on a lot of different subjects."

Simmons said job recruiters seek students who can write and speak adeptly in addition to solve problems -- other benefits of a liberal arts education.

"Everyone, regardless of their area of study, needs to have a strong liberal arts background," Bragger said. "This is where the knowledge comes from in a community that shows us what we have in common with each other. The need to communicate; that's what holds us together as a society."