In this 10th edition of its flagship annual survey of college general education curricula, What Will They Learn?, ACTA shines a light on the wide disparity in academic standards at institutions of higher learning across the country. What Will They Learn? reviews the core curricula of over 1,100 four-year public and private institutions across the country to determine the rigor of each school’s general education program. Ratings are based on how many of the following seven core subjects are included in the curriculum: Composition, Literature, Foreign Language (intermediate-level), U.S. Government or History, Economics, Mathematics, and Natural Science. Grades are awarded on an “A” through “F” scale, depending on how many of the seven core subjects institutions require. This year, 366 schools earned an “A” or “B” grade, while over 400 received a “D” or “F.” Too many colleges and universities continue to offer unstructured and chaotic curricula, causing students to sort through a plethora of course options in the name of “choice” and “self-discovery.” What Will They Learn? 2018-19 and its interactive companion website WhatWillTheyLearn.com, can help orient students, parents, and trustees as they consider what educational quality looks like in 21st century America.
In this 11th edition of its flagship annual survey of college general education curricula, What Will They Learn?, ACTA shines a light on the wide disparity in academic standards at institutions of higher learning across the country. What Will They Learn? reviews the core curricula of over 1,100 four-year public and private institutions to determine the […]
The idealism of the information age has given way to serious concerns about the proliferation of misinformation, which travels faster than you can say “retweet.” Americans rely on their institutions of higher education to provide students with the knowledge they need to question prevailing orthodoxies and think critically about important issues facing the nation. Many […]
Just as July 4th celebrations are set to begin, ACTA’s new report, No U.S. History? How College History Departments Leave the United States out of the Major, reveals that less than 1/3 of the nations leading colleges and universities require students pursuing a degree in history to take a single course in American history. Only 23 […]
The advancement of empirical science, the Industrial Revolution, and then the technological revolution, the development of representative government, Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Michelangelo’s David and Da Vinci’s masterpieces. Bach, Beethoven, Chopin. It’s been a rather remarkable run. And how remarkable that this engine of human progress seems strangely to be faltering. Seventy-one years ago, French […]
College graduates still learn more than high school graduates over the course of their careers. But a recent PayScale survey found that managers increasingly say recent grads lack basic writing, speaking, and problem solving skills. Traditionally, students have developed these skills through general education programs, which make up roughly one-third of most students’ academic programs. […]
When parents plunk down $20, $30, $40 and maybe $50 thousand this fall for a year’s worth of college room, board and tuition, it might be relevant to ask: What will their children learn in return? The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) ask that question in their recently released publication, “What Will They […]
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