Jan 14, 2017 08:26 AM EST By Beth Golden, UniversityHerald Reporter

There was a time when liberal arts was a uniquely American in higher education. Nowadays, the program has spread and have been adopted by different colleges and universities all over the world.

This week, the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education revealed the best liberal arts schools in the United States. Most of these schools are private and not-for-profit colleges with some of them clustered in Massachusetts, California and Pennsylvania.

A liberal arts degree has an interdisciplinary curriculum that includes a wide range of subjects with annual tuition costs below $50,000. Class sizes in these institutions are often smaller than typical college classes and educators are more focused on teaching rather than research.

Here are the top 5 liberal arts schools in the U.S.:

1. Williams College

Established in 1793, some departments in this school used the traditional tutorial system patterned after Oxford and Cambridge universities in the U.K. The liberal arts program in this Massachusetts community of 2,000 students takes 4 years to complete and cover subjects from social sciences, humanities and science.

2.Amherst College

Another college located in Massachusetts, Amherst is said to be highly selective and their liberal arts class sizes are very small with most classes having less than 30 students to encourage interaction with the professors and between the class. The liberal arts program at Amherst has an open curriculum and does not have core restriction on the variety of subjects a student can take on.

3. Wellesley College

Home to 2,400 students, this all-women school has over 1,000 programs and allows students to take courses on prestigious institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University. Notable graduates include journalist Diane Sawyer and politician Hillary Clinton.

4. Swarthmore College

his scenic campus located in Pennsylvania is one of the first co-educational colleges founded in 1864. Aside from its liberal arts program, the college offers an engineering track to undergraduate students.

5. Pomona College

This college located in California may be small with a student population of only 1,600 but it is also one of the most diverse academic communities in the country with 60 countries represented. It's liberal arts program includes courses in the arts, humanities, social and natural sciences.

According to Market Watch, a liberal arts major makes between $40,000 and $60,000 in median annual wages.

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