ACTA pushes colleges to restore American history requirements ahead of nation’s 250th anniversary

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is urging colleges and universities to restore American history and civics requirements.

ACTA’s National Commission on American History and Civic Education released a report in April titled “A Broadside for the Nation,” which calls for every college student to complete a semester-long course on American history.

ACTA argues that such reforms are urgently needed. The organization found that only 19 percent of colleges and universities currently require students to complete a course in American history or government before graduation.

“Popular government without popular knowledge is just something that doesn’t happen,” ACTA President Michael Poliakoff told Campus Reform. “Madison said it so well. A people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power that knowledge gives.”

The commission launched in August 2024 and developed a multi-year strategy aimed at improving civic education on college campuses.

Central to that effort is restoring what the report calls “the requirement that every college student complete a semester-long course on the American story.”

In a recent interview with Campus Reform, commission member Judge Douglas Ginsburg said the group’s work focused on examining “the state of teaching of American history at the university level” and identifying “what needed to be done to improve it.”

For Poliakoff, declining civic knowledge among college students poses a serious challenge to representative government.

“This is a real danger to the future of the nation,” he said. “And that’s why ACTA is so completely fixed on setting this right.”

The report also outlines a recommended curriculum that includes foundational American texts such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, the Emancipation Proclamation, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. 

ACTA’s proposal comes as several states have taken steps to expand civic education. Thirteen new civic centers have been established since 2023, many through legislative action.

“The nation is hungry for this,” Poliakoff said, pointing to recent state efforts to strengthen civic education requirements.

“It’s a very powerful sign that state leaders want to see a real revival of civic knowledge and appreciation for the American story,” he said. “We’re seeing at the state level a real renaissance of investment in teaching college students, and often the public as well, the American story.”

This piece was originally published by Campus Reform on June 23, 2026.