TY  - JOUR
AB  - Liberal education is often touted as an ideal format for preparing students for civic engagement, yet this claim is seldom empirically tested. In this study, we quantify the relationship between college students’ liberal education, measured by the breadth and depth of their curriculum, and markers of civic engagement in four domains: participating in civic life, acting politically, being informed, and possessing democratic virtues. We use transcript data from over 200,000 students at seven postsecondary systems merged with career history data and, for a subsample of graduates, survey data collected a decade after graduation. We find that students whose curriculum includes a broader array of liberal arts subjects are more likely to enter public service after graduation, which is an important indicator of graduates’ commitment to the public good. This is particularly true for students who take additional subjects in or major in the natural sciences. Those with a broader curriculum are also more likely to report interacting with people from different backgrounds. There is no association between curricular breadth and all other measures of civic engagement. We also find a small but negative relationship between depth of study and pluralistic orientation, suggesting that breadth and depth can work at cross-purposes in engendering liberal learning outcomes. However, both breadth and depth are eclipsed by the impact of students’ major on civic outcomes.
AU  - Flaster, Allyson
AU  - Brady, Jennifer
AU  - Byrd, W. Carson
AU  - Rancourt, Cady
AU  - Stange, Kevin
AU  - Yang, Yinger
PY  - 2026
ST  - Does Liberal Education Produce Engaged Citizens? The Relationship Between Curricular Breadth, Depth, and Democratic Outcomes
TI  - Does Liberal Education Produce Engaged Citizens? The Relationship Between Curricular Breadth, Depth, and Democratic Outcomes
UR  - http://www.edworkingpapers.com/ai26-1637
ER  -