[padastra]

I am not aware of any data that colleges--liberal arts or otherwise--teach much in terms of critical thinking. Rather their value seems to derive primarily from their ability to select talented students and provide them with a network of similarly talented peers. That and they get "credit" for the learnings of students as they age from 18 - 22/26, when that's a pretty ripe time for maturing thought with or without the classroom.

Moreover, it's clear that most colleges agree with my viewpoint. For example, if Harvard's product was an amazing curriculum, they could expand that to many, many more students than their current class size and charge for it (instead, their actions are rational when their product is exclusivity and high-talent networks).

[JackFr]

Though I have a degree in math, my undergraduate experiance was at a liberal arts college. Outside of my major I was required to take at least 2 history classes, 2 philosphy classes, 2 theology classes, 2 lietrature classes, 2 social science classes and a foreign language (modern or classical) to the intermediate level. I was a very rich and rewarding experience, and I firmy believe every bit of it makes me a better software developer and human being.

That being said, there was no explicit 'critical thinking' aspect to it, rather one learned the importance of reading and writing. If we define 'critical thinking' as the ability to bith understand a subtle argument and to make one, it was the reading and writing that did that.

[CactusOnFire]

My BA degree required taking a class called 'Critical Thinking' which focused on formal logic.

I do agree with the sentiment, and that schools need a massive overhaul, but I figured that I should provide my 1 data point to the discussion.

[hellisothers]

Similarly my BA required spending the entire senior year writing a thesis paper requiring much slowing down, critical thinking and rethinking. I agree with OP’s assertion but it probably doesn’t apply to every college.