"Liberal arts" comes from the Greek and Roman world - so, much of Europe, though probably not Finland. From wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_ar

"Liberal arts" comes from the Greek and Roman world - so, much of Europe, though probably not Finland. From wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_arts_education): "Originally these subjects or skills were held by classical antiquity to be essential for a free person (liberalis, "worthy of a free person") to acquire in order to take an active part in civic life, something that included among other things participating in public debate, defending oneself in court, serving on juries, and participating in military service." So "liberal" was "for free people" as opposed to slaves. If I understand correctly, the "liberal arts college" is more in contrast to a trade school - basically, teaching things that enrich your life rather than things you depend on to make a living. Universities kind of span both - they teach philosophy and literature, but they also teach things like engineering.