A university education, properly realized, must be built upon an intellectually broadening program of study in the liberal arts. As critic Mark Van Doren has observed, "Liberal education makes the person competent not merely to know or do, but also, and indeed chiefly, to be." The essential curriculum of a college education, Van Doren explained, teaches students to learn progressively the arts of investigation, discovery, criticism, and communication. The Florida State University's liberal studies curriculum, which is grounded firmly in courses offered by the College of Arts and Sciences, helps to develop these crucial intellectual values and critical skills in all undergraduate students. Majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, furthermore, enjoy the privileges and benefits of developing a richer appreciation of the humanities and the sciences an appreciation that enhances the quality of students' lives morally, intellectually, and professionally.

   The oldest college at the University, the College of Arts and Sciences has provided generations of undergraduate students instruction in the liberal arts disciplines that are essential for intellectual development and personal growth: English and mathematics, history, the humanities, and the physical, biological, and behavioral sciences. At the graduate level, too, the contributions of the College of Arts and Sciences have been integral with the growth of the University. The College of Arts and Sciences awarded the first recorded master's degree in 1908, the year before the Florida Female College was renamed the Florida State College for Women. It also awarded the first Florida State College for Women's master's degree in 1909. The first doctorate at the Florida State University was awarded in chemistry in 1952.

   Over the decades, various professional schools have been established at the University, and several colleges and schools have separated from the College of Arts and Sciences to become individual administrative entities. Today, 75 percent of the Liberal Studies Program and over 40 percent of University instruction, generally, are offered by the College of Arts and Sciences. Furthermore, the college conducts a large percentage of the sponsored research at the University. Currently, the College of Arts and Sciences annually awards the largest number of bachelor's degrees and the largest number of doctoral degrees at the University.

   The College of Arts and Sciences comprises 19 departments, 17 institutes, and 10 interdisciplinary programs. In addition to awarding bachelor of science (BS), bachelor of arts (BA), master of science (MS), master of arts (MA), and doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees, and heavily supporting the Liberal Studies Program, the College of Arts and Sciences offers an extensive array of foundation courses for preprofessional and professional programs.

   College of Arts and Sciences faculty have earned national and international recognition for research, teaching, and distinguished service to the profession. The faculty of the college has included seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, three Nobel Laureates, a Pulitzer Prize winner, directors of national commissions, university presidents, and numerous winners of other national or international honors. Locally, University committees have named several arts and sciences faculty Eppes Professors, and more than two dozen of the college's faculty have been selected University Distinguished Professors. More than 125 arts and sciences faculty members have won University Teaching and Advising awards, Developing Scholar awards, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Distinguished Scholar awards.

   Students in the College of Arts and Sciences have been recipients of a wide variety of honors, including a Rhodes Scholarship, and Rotary awards, McKnight and Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowships, professional society scholarships, and other nationally recognized awards. Among the graduates of the college are scientists, writers, doctors, chief executive officers of major corporations, lawyers, school and college teachers and administrators.