(Washington, D.C., Thursday, December 2, 2021) – The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is releasing a new report, “No U.S. History? How College History Departments Leave the United States out of the Major.” The report found that 18 of the top 25 public universities did not have a wide-ranging American history requirement for students seeking a B.A. in history in the major or core curriculum, nor did 24 of the 25 top-ranked national schools. The report looks back to 1952, at which point 88% of publics had such a requirement.
The consequences for society are far-reaching. Much of what is not learned—or remains uncorrected—turns into (or makes possible the spread of) misinformation that is so damaging in a free and democratic society. When ten percent of college graduates believe Judy Sheindlin—TV’s “Judge Judy”—is a member of the Supreme Court, it is hard for a political community to have reasoned debate on important policy issues.
A 2019 ACTA survey found that 18% of American adults think New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the architect of the New Deal, a package of programs introduced by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933; 51% could not identify the term lengths for US Senators and Representative—on a multiple choice question. The lack of a shared, fact-based, context for debate means the loudest voices are often the most influential.
Our coarsening public discourse is, in large part, traceable to the erosion of a common sense of purpose in the citizenry. Americans learn about their history in many places, but all roads lead back to the universities, which train our social studies teachers, journalists, filmmakers and public leaders. So when American history vanishes from the curriculum, so does a shared basis for informed civil debate.
Top universities have neglected the country’s political history and, worse, politicized it. As such, institutions essential to building civic literacy have become engines of division. Take the controversy surrounding the New York Times’ 1619 project, which aims to “reframe” America’s founding instead of aspiring to historical objectivity . Survey research has shown that Americans believe that students should learn and have reasoned conversations about the brutality and horrors of American slavery, as well as the heroic efforts of abolitionists, the Jim Crow era and its aftermath, the failure of Reconstruction, and much else. Schools should work to teach a common history rooted in historical fact. If conservatives and liberals are encouraged to nurture divergent understandings of the country’s principles and history, it will become even harder to talk about race in our society.
Institutions need to take this new ACTA report to heart and, starting with their requirements for the history major, recommit to educating students for historical literacy. Public institutions especially have a responsibility to address the crisis in civic education.
ACTA has long warned that the erosion of academic standards is leaving graduates unprepared for informed citizenship and for the demands of a complex and ever-evolving job market. As the public continues to lose confidence in institutions of higher education, and with student loan debt continuing to skyrocket, the return on investment of a baccalaureate degree is under more scrutiny than ever.
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is an independent, nonprofit organization committed to academic freedom, academic excellence, and accountability at America’s colleges and universities. ACTA works to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality education, at an affordable price.