Purdue University College of Liberal Arts

The College of Liberal Arts created Purdue's first three year degree[6] and the first comprehensive program to offer the Degree in 3 was in the College.[7] Degree in 3 has been cited by numerous media outlets for reducing the cost of an undergraduate education.[8] [9][10] The program provides students with a path to complete a B.A. degree at Purdue in three years, resulting in significant cost savings.[11] Every academic unit in the College offers Degree in 3 majors. In October 2021, Fast Company named Purdue University to its inaugural list of Brands That Matter, citing Degree in 3 for helping 60% of Purdue University students graduate debt-free.[12]

In a January 2015 letter to the Purdue community, President Mitch Daniels cited a series of statistics about the low numbers of social science and humanities classes completed by recent Purdue graduates. He noted, "Our Provost (Deba Dutta) and Liberal Arts dean will be working... to make sure that future Boilermakers do not leave West Lafayette without having encountered the essential facts and ideas central to the preservation of success of a free society."[13] The creation of Cornerstone responded to this call to action. Dean David Reingold named professor of history Melinda Zook to lead a group of faculty fellows to develop and propose the program's curriculum. In September 2016, the program was first introduced to the Purdue Board of Trustees and Provost.

Central to Cornerstone is the study of Transformative Texts, a term first coined during the development of the program to refer to the foundational texts central to its first year classes. Sometimes called Great Books or core texts, the Transformative Texts term embraces as openness to global and contemporary works.

In September 2020, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Teagle Foundation announced a partnership to revitalize the role of the humanities in general education at college campuses across the country based on the Cornerstone Integrated Liberal Arts program.[14] The NEH and Teagle Foundation have committed $7M to the national replication initiative, Cornerstone: Learning for Living.

Responding to the growing interest of Purdue University undergraduates to explore studies across traditional academic colleges, Degree+ provides a streamlined path for students to complete a B.A. from the College of Liberal Arts along with a B.S. degree from another academic college. The program enables students to complete two undergraduate degrees in four years, combining areas of study based on their interest and positioning them as compelling candidates entering the job market. Degree+ was announced in Fall 2018.[15]