“The opportunities could not have come my way had I gone to a college near my hometown, even though there are some good colleges there," she says.

Ritikaa majored in history and international relations from Ashoka University, a liberal arts school in Sonipat, Haryana. She cannot write code or build an app. However, she is confident about her ability to “figure out what to do" even in areas where she is not technically trained. “Being able to question, think for yourself, communicate well—I don’t know how they teach you these skills, but you acquire them anyway," Ritikaa says. “Ashoka taught me how to swim, and swim fast."

Another liberal arts graduate is Akshaya Shankar, who majored in Another liberal arts graduate is Akshaya Shankar, who majored in psychology from Krea University in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.

“The psychology I studied was academic. But the skills I indirectly picked up turned out to be quite useful," says Shankar. “We did not just take conventional exams, but were assessed through assignments like video essays, podcasts, and posters. These have come handy now."

Shankar is in a marketing communications role at Vayana Network, a business-to-business trade financing firm.

In a nutshell, this is what a liberal arts degree, taught by new private universities, which came up over the last decade, promises. Skills that are not easy to put down on a resume—like programming, analytics or design—but come to the fore at the time of problem solving

Every liberal arts undergraduate, irrespective of their major, is supposed to take foundation or core courses in mathematical and scientific reasoning, critical thinking, philosophy, literature, economics and society. This gives them a well-rounded view of the world. Students take inter-disciplinary courses for the first one-and-a -half years, before they decide on a major. They can pursue minors, or electives, in diverse disciplines as well. So, one could end up graduating with a major in literature and a minor in computer sciences.

Ashoka University and Krea University offer majors across fundamental and computer sciences, humanities and social sciences. At Flame University in Pune, one could major in applied mathematics, business, computer sciences, marketing, humanities and social sciences. O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), in Sonipat, limits itself to majors across social sciences, arts and humanities. Shiv Nadar University (SNU), near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, offers engineering and management majors, in addition to those in sciences, humanities and social sciences.

All these institutions have a few things in common. They started off as a state private university (non-profit university established under a state act, and recognised by the University Grants Commission) and not a college affiliated to existing public universities, where the curriculum is more rigid; they are endowed by private philanthropic capital; they boast of research collaboration, faculty and student exchange programs with top universities in the US and Europe; a large number of their teachers come from the best universities in India and abroad.