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The College Performance That’s More Important Than March Madness
April 9, 2026 by Bradley Gerber
This year, like every year, the NCAA’s March Madness showcased the largest, richest, and most sophisticated basketball franchises outside…
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Latest
PodcastsInstitutional Neutrality
Controversial Course Topics, Self-Censorship in Class, and Institutional Neutrality—Oh My!
April 7, 2026
In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison analyze a new policy on teaching controversial topics in the University of Texas System. The podcast hosts also discuss what a new survey from Gallup/Lumina reveals about student free speech experiences on their campuses. Steve and Justin also debate an article from Inside Higher Ed that provides a Rawlsian defense of institutional neutrality. The show hosts also announce the University of Wyoming as this episode’s “Hero of the People” and a professor from Stanford University as RFC’s “Apparatchik of the Month.”
Civic Education
Educating for a More Perfect Union
ACTA and the Museum of the American Revolution are celebrating our nation’s 250th anniversary year with an evening panel discussion on how to reinvigorate history and civics education in American college and university classrooms and across the public history sector.
PROMOTING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Glenn Corn: A Former CIA Agent’s Case for Language Learning
April 10, 2026
ACTA’s Academic Affairs Fellow Veronica Bryant welcomes Glenn Corn, who spent 35 years working in the national security and international affairs community. Mr. Corn served as CIA chief of station for four different Eurasian and Middle Eastern countries. He now teaches graduate-level courses in International Affairs and Security Studies at the Institute of World Politics. In addition to […]
Glenn Corn: A Former CIA Agent’s Case for Language LearningACTA in the NewsCivic Literacy
American students’ lack of basic civics knowledge alarms education advocates
Fox News | April 3, 2026 by Rachel Wolf
Education advocates are urging stronger national civics standards as new data highlights gaps in students’ understanding of American government ahead of…
No U.S. History?
ACTA’s report, “No U.S. History? How College History Departments Leave the United States out of the Major,” 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.
Download PDFDEFENDING ACADEMIC FREEDOm
Controversial Course Topics, Self-Censorship in Class, and Institutional Neutrality—Oh My!
April 7, 2026
In this episode of Radio Free Campus, co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison analyze a new policy on teaching controversial topics in the University of Texas System. The podcast hosts also discuss what a new survey from Gallup/Lumina reveals about student free speech experiences on their campuses. Steve and Justin also debate an article from Inside Higher Ed that provides a Rawlsian defense of institutional neutrality. The show hosts also announce the University of Wyoming as this episode’s “Hero of the People” and a professor from Stanford University as RFC’s “Apparatchik of the Month.”
Controversial Course Topics, Self-Censorship in Class, and Institutional Neutrality—Oh My!Press ReleasesFreedom of Expression
Can Ohio’s Universities Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?
March 31, 2026
March 31, 2026 – Today, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), under the auspices of its Campus…
The University of Cincinnati Report Card
March 31, 2026
ACTA’s Campus Freedom Initiative™ (CFI) has evaluated universities in several states against our Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™,…
ACTA Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression
ACTA now provides a blueprint to help higher education regain and live by this core principle. The ACTA Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression™ provides clear guidance for institutions to create a culture of free thought on their campuses.
Download PDFENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY
Spring 2026 Higher Ed at Glance
April 8, 2026
ACTA in the States From improving civic education to protecting free expression to strengthening college governance, state policymakers are challenging the status quo to restore the promise of higher education. Click here to read legislation the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has been tracking thus far in 2026. The Brewing Tug-of-War over Public […]
Spring 2026 Higher Ed at Glance$67 Billion in Foreign Gifts, ‘Pervasive Noncompliance’ on Disclosure
Real Clear Education | March 30, 2026 by Alex Blinkoff and Kyle Beltramini
In January, the Department of Education (ED) put out a new tool that tracks foreign financing of American higher education. For…
At Boston City Council, students call for increased transparency, cooperation from Northeastern administration
The Huntington News | March 25, 2026 by Elizabeth Chalmers
More than 100 people filed into Boston City Hall March 23 as community members testified about an alleged lack…
Governance for a New Era
Governance for a New Era is a blueprint for higher education governance. Signatories to the statement, a diverse group of 22 distinguished national leaders dedicated to ensuring America’s colleges and universities shed 20th century thinking and successfully meet 21st century challenges.
Download PDFIN THE
NEWS
ACTA in the NewsFreedom of Expression
AAUP-backed toolkit urges students to ‘create a crisis’ on campus over ICE ties
The College Fix | April 6, 2026 by Ava Mae Yates
The American Association of University Professors is sponsoring a campaign called “Schools Drop ICE,” which aims to force “colleges to drop their contracts with ICE’s key corporate enablers.” For the campaign, the AAUP, along with Young Democratic Socialists of America, Sunrise Movement, and the …
ACTA in the NewsCivic Literacy
American students’ lack of basic civics knowledge alarms education advocates
Fox News | April 3, 2026 by Rachel Wolf
Education advocates are urging stronger national civics standards as new data highlights gaps in students’ understanding of American government ahead of a federal assessment update. Every four years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administers a civics t…
Press ReleasesFreedom of Expression
Can Ohio’s Universities Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?
March 31, 2026
March 31, 2026 – Today, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA), under the auspices of its Campus Freedom Initiative™, released a survey of 2,277 undergraduate students at five of Ohio’s major public four-year universities, along with a more in-depth report card assessing these u…
HOW ACTA IS SUCCEEDING
370
institutions have been counseled by ACTA on matters of cost effectiveness, financial governance, and institutional spending. See ACTA’s one-of-a-kind higher education financial analysis tool: HowCollegesSpendMoney.com.
146
institutions and systems representing nearly four million students, encouraged by ACTA, reaffirmed their commitment to free speech on campus by adopting the Chicago Principles on Freedom of Expression or a policy of institutional neutrality.
256
institutions have improved their core curriculum requirements based on ACTA’s annual What Will They Learn?® initiative. Visit WhatWillTheyLearn.com
26,500+
students from 140 institutions have engaged in 660 civil discourse debates, dialogues, and workshops through ACTA’s college debates program partnership with Braver Angels and Bridge USA.
795
news outlets in 2025 covered ACTA’s nationwide impact on academic excellence, academic freedom, and accountability in higher education.
275
million dollars in gifts to higher education have been guided through ACTA’s Fund for Academic Renewal. Visit AcademicRenewal.org.
WHO WE ARE
Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States 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 college education at an affordable price.
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