Many universities across the country are mirroring a national push to get more students enrolled in science, technology, engineering and math fields — or STEM fields — leaving liberal arts and humanities programs on the back burner as budgets tighten, according to a report from The Chronicle of Higher Education.

At MSU, however, enrollment in RCAH has been steady in the program’s five-year history, said RCAH Dean Stephen Esquith. The college was founded in 2005, and each year enrollment has been between 100 and 125 students, he said.

Esquith said many people do not understand the skills and competencies that arts and humanities (students) come away with after graduation.

“There is something of a misunderstanding about the relationship between the STEM disciplines and the arts and humanities,” he said.

Tom Wolff, associate dean for undergraduate studies in the College of Engineering, said the push towards STEM fields dates back to about 2000.

“The need in the U.S. is for more engineers,” Wolff said. “Where the U.S. had led and can lead is in two areas: innovation and integration.”

Today, there are about 3,400 students enrolled in the College of Engineering — the largest amount in the last 10 years, Wolff said. The employment outlook for engineering students is promising, with the job placement rate at about 90 percent and most students in the college averaging multiple job offers, he said.

“In fact, it’s been so good that we’ve had to work with employers because they’re aggressively recruiting,” he said. “We want to make sure our students who do get offers have time to put them on the table … and not be pressured into taking them in a hurry.”

Esquith said the notion that STEM majors are more employable is partly responsible for the surge in enrollment in those areas. RCAH graduates are having success after graduation, according to data on last year’s graduating class, Esquith said. RCAH graduates typically go one of three routes, either entering graduate programs, doing humanitarian work for nongovernmental organizations or working directly for businesses in the private sector, he said.

“I think they’re doing very well,” Esquith said. “The numbers are very encouraging.”

Esquith and Wolff both said qualities from humanities and STEM fields are necessary for people to be successful no matter the discipline they pursue.

“You can’t do science well, and you can’t be in the engineering field and be successful without an understanding of history … (and) language and communication,” Esquith said. “To do work in the visual and performing arts … one has to understand how the world works.”Fitzpatrick, who hopes to pursue a career in politics after graduating, said students need to choose areas of study that fit their individual strengths to be successful.

“If you’re not someone who learns well in that scientific context, then it doesn’t matter if you’re in the right field if you’re not doing well in that field,” he said. “I think I’ll be more employable because … I’ll be reaching my potential instead of reaching someone else’s.”