Commonly taken to be the opposite of a specialized education; one in which students are required to take courses in a wide range of fields, as well as courses in their major.

a mastery of the seven liberal arts

an education devoted to freedom

an education for freedom, the freedom to assert the liberty of the mind to make itself new for the other minds it cherishes

The term liberal education has its origins in the medieval concept of the liberal arts but now is primarily associated with the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment.