Demand for a liberal-arts education at St. John’s and similar schools slips:

Yet, applications were down 15 percent this year at St. John’s, and this year’s freshman class of 137 is about 20 students smaller than last year’s.
The experience at St. John’s is representative of many small, private liberal arts colleges across the country, according to presidents and admissions officials interviewed. Several schools reported a falloff in applications because of the economic downturn, and some struggled to fill the freshman class.
Liberal arts colleges have had to defend the marketability of a philosophy major for as long as competing public and private institutions have offered degrees in engineering and business, often at a lower cost. But never, perhaps, have families weighed the value of a liberal education more carefully than in the 2009-10 admissions cycle, which found the nation mired in its worst recession since the 1930s.