Strikingly, liberal education is not only effective at enhancing student learning, but also in producing college graduates well-equipped for the challenges of the 21st century economy. Studies in the Liberal Education and American’s Promise initiative of the Association of American Colleges and Universities have shown that the essential learning outcomes of a liberal education are aligned with the skills most desired in prospective workers by private sector employers.As policymakers continue to search for means to make higher education a driver for entrepreneurial innovation and economic transformation, they should not lose sight of the central value of the traditional liberal arts and sciences – topics all too often overlooked in favor of applied or pre-professional fields – in the development of the student mind.