Careers
Study PLS. Do Anything.
What can I do with a PLS major?
The Program of Liberal Studies offers more than preparation for a meaningful career; it can help you to live a more meaningful life. As you can see from the data below, PLS graduates have no difficulty finding jobs, and a recent survey of our alumni revealed that 94% felt that their PLS education helped them perform strongly in their professions.
At least as important, however, is the fact that nearly the same percentage also said that PLS had made valuable contributions to their intellectual development, their knowledge of themselves, their appreciation of the arts and literature, their ability to make moral choices, and their ability to live an examined life.
Since the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median job tenure for U.S. workers at all income and educational levels is about 4 years, it is clear that intellectual agility, adaptability, and self-awareness will be essential for both your professional and personal success.
In PLS, you will be required to work across different academic disciplines, each with its own methods and assumptions, and to quickly analyze complicated argumentation, which you will present to your classmates and professors in class discussions and in writing. Through seminar discussions, you will learn to argue constructively and work with others towards common goals. The experience of reading and interpreting classic texts will make you comfortable with difficult ideas and opposing viewpoints. Through your essays, you will learn to communicate persuasively and elegantly. Researching your senior thesis, you will learn to digest and scrutinize information and work independently. Along the way, you will be invited to discern for yourself continually what it means to live a good life.
If you want a career and, more importantly, a life, that is grounded in deep self-knowledge and a broad understanding of the world, major in PLS.
Hear from PLS alumnus Tom Franco '74, Partner at Clayton, Dubilier, & Rice, LLC
Skills you'll learn
- To communicate orally and in writing with clarity and confidence
- To argue civilly and listen generously, to persuade and be persuaded
- To pose strong questions and solve problems creatively
- To seek wisdom and the intellectual life
- To think critically and reason analytically
- To cultivate a rich emotional life and a desire for intellectual friendship
- To develop a capacity for aesthetic judgment and pleasure
- To appreciate a diversity of thought and culture
- To read, interpret, and comment upon difficult material across a range of disciplines
- To value the common good and contribute to a community
Emily Cline '20
Healthcare Analyst, Huron Consulting Group
“By closely examining dense philosophical texts, discussing the Great Books with my peers, and writing countless essays, I learned how to articulate complex ideas and analyze real world problems. These skills have directly translated to my career in healthcare as an analyst at Huron Consulting Group. I work every day with a diverse group of people to identify problems within healthcare organizations and then design and implement solutions to these issues. The healthcare landscape is incredibly complex and constantly changing, and it’s rewarding to have the chance to work closely with the people and organizations that are driving that transformation. My work has a direct impact on patient access and patient care, and I’m so grateful that my PLS education has enabled me to make a difference in the field I’m most passionate about.”
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Emily Cline '20
Healthcare Analyst, Huron Consulting Group
“By closely examining dense philosophical texts, discussing the Great Books with my peers, and writing countless essays, I learned how to articulate complex ideas and analyze real world problems. These skills have directly translated to my career in healthcare as an analyst at Huron Consulting Group. I work every day with a diverse group of people to identify problems within healthcare organizations and then design and implement solutions to these issues. The healthcare landscape is incredibly complex and constantly changing, and it’s rewarding to have the chance to work closely with the people and organizations that are driving that transformation. My work has a direct impact on patient access and patient care, and I’m so grateful that my PLS education has enabled me to make a difference in the field I’m most passionate about.”
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Elliot Pierce '13
Data Scientist, Facebook
“I have worked for a wide range of different companies and done many different types of work. Even when I've worked for the same company, my job has tended to change every six months or so even if my job title has stayed the same. PLS taught me to be comfortable moving from one discipline to the next while taking the lessons of past disciplines with me. Some people think of their identities as tied to a specific profession. PLS taught me to think of myself as someone who does whatever the moment calls for. As Terence put it, ‘I am human, and nothing human is alien to me.’ Data science as a job didn't really exist when I was in college. Now I'm doing it. Maybe I'll do something different in 10 years that doesn't exist today. I consider myself well-prepared in the sense that I am open to new possibilities.”
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Mary Katherine Kulback '09
Corporate IP Associate, Winston and Strawn LLP
“Studying PLS has been essential to my well-being as a human being, first and foremost. It has made me a more thoughtful person, a better listener, a better friend, a better family member, a better citizen. It has helped me make sense of the news and the world around me. Professionally, it has given a base skill-set and an ability to think that I then build skills and knowledge upon. I don't know where I'd be without PLS, but I know I am in a better place, personally and professionally, because of this experience.”
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Christopher Muth '06
Neurologist, Stroger Cook County Hospital; Assistant Professor of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center; Senior Editor, Journal of the American Medical Association
“Studying the Great Books cultivated a curiosity about what it means to be human and exposed me to a wide range of world views, and as a physician, I use these skills to listen closely and with an open mind in order to care for patients with neurological conditions and to help them make informed healthcare decisions that are in line with their priorities and values. My experience in PLS taught me to be a life-long learner and prepared me with a strong foundation upon which I’ve been fortunate to develop a varied and personally rewarding career. I am very grateful and would definitely do it all over again!”
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A. Manuel Cuevas-Trisan '91
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Northwestern University
“Majoring in PLS was the best decision I ever made. A broad liberal education is interdisciplinary in nature. It afforded me the opportunity to explore timeless principles in various fields of knowledge, learn to analyze, to communicate, and to continue to learn.”
97% of recent Notre Dame Program of Liberal Studies majors found full-time employment, enrolled in graduate school, entered service programs, joined the military, or launched independent projects within six months of graduation.
Note: Outcomes data comes from First Destination reports, a survey of recent graduates conducted by the Notre Dame Center for Career Development and Office of Strategic Planning and Institutional Research. Status is known for more than 90% of each graduating class.
Independent projects include activities such as writing a novel, making a film or fine arts project, traveling the world, caring for a family member, etc.