To Counter America’s Civic Illiteracy Crisis, ACTA Urges Universities to Require Foundational Coursework in U.S. History and Government
Today, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) released A Broadside for the […]
Report
| Civic Education
A Broadside for the Nation
Preparing College Students for Informed Citizenship
April 21, 2026 Download PDF Press Release
Recognizing that America’s 250th anniversary is cause for both celebration and a long-overdue call for renewal, 24 historians, political scientists, and education leaders have joined ACTA’s National Commission on American History and Civic Education. The National Commission has a simple, yet essential goal: the restoration of the requirement that every college student complete a semester-long course on the American story. Our schoolteachers, our business leaders, our professionals, and our government leaders must not receive a diploma without this training.
It is an ambitious goal, a multi-year project, which will do much to fulfill the vision of the American Founders. In this Broadside for the Nation, we explain in detail why American higher education must restore this foundational requirement for college graduates to know the American story, what such a course might include, and, crucially, how to make this vision a reality.
Endorsements
ACTA thanks the teachers, scholars, and public leaders listed below, who have signed endorsements of the work of the National Commission on American History and Civic Education. We are grateful for their commitment to restoring the requirement for all undergraduates to complete a course on the story of our nation. Affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not necessarily imply an official endorsement by the listed affiliation.
Samuel Abrams
Sarah Lawrence College
American Enterprise Institute
John Altman
American Council of Trustees and Alumni
Board of Directors, Chairman Emeritus
Michael Auslin
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Lee Barnes
The Barnes Family Foundation of North Carolina
James Bennett
Granby Capital Management, LLC
Douglas Bradburn
Historian
Carlos Campo
Museum of the Bible
Paul Carrese
School of Civic & Economic Thought and
Leadership, Arizona State University
Courtney Chapin
National History Day Board of Trustees
Michael M. Crow
President, Arizona State University
John Danielson
USC Schwarzenegger Institute Board of Advisors
Justin Dyer
School of Civic Leadership, The University of Texas at Austin
Sir Niall Ferguson
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Steven Frankel
Hamilton School of Classical and Civic Education, University of Florida
E. Gordon Gee
The Ohio State University
Robert P. George
James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions, Princeton University
Claire McCaffery Griffin
Formerly with the Bill of Rights Institute
Aimee Guidera
Harvard Kennedy School
Former Virginia Secretary of Education
Victor Davis Hanson
Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Harlan Crow
Crow Holdings
Roger Hertog
Hertog Foundation
Will Imboden
The University of Texas at Austin
Pano Kanelos
Civitas Institute, The University of Texas at Austin
Jeff Kaplan
The Ohio State University Board of Trustees
Dolores Kohl
Dolores Kohl Education Foundation
Bruce Kovner
The Kovner Foundation
Suzie Kovner
The Kovner Foundation
Robert Lewit
American Council of Trustees and Alumni Board of Directors, Chairman Emeritus
Glenn Loury
Brown University
Charles T. (Tom) McMillen
University System of Maryland Board of Regents
Former U.S. Representative
John McWhorter
Columbia University
Jack Miller
The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles & History
Eli Noam
Columbia Business School
Pete Peterson
Pepperdine University
Joel Picket
Gotham Organization
Thomas Rollins
Founder, The Teaching Company
Diana Schaub
Loyola University Maryland
American Enterprise Institute
Colleen Sheehan
Arizona State University
Elizabeth Spalding
Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Matthew Spalding
Hillsdale College
David Bruce Smith
Grateful American Foundation
Steven Smith
Yale University
R. Scott Stephenson
Museum of the American Revolution
Lee J. Strang
Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
Nadine Strossen
New York Law School
Donald W. Sweeting
Colorado Christian University
Siri Terjesen
Florida Atlantic University
Thad Westbrook
University of South Carolina Board of Trustees
George Will
The Washington Post
Ruth Wisse
The Tikvah Fund
Robert Woodson
The Woodson Center
Hans Zeiger
The Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles & History
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