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 Nation: Preparing College Students for Informed Citizenship.

As the nation approaches the 250^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, this report catalogs the long-standing failures of American colleges and universities to educate students in the basic knowledge required to become engaged, informed citizens. It also calls for all American institutions of higher education to rectify this crisis of ignorance by requiring students to take a foundational course in U.S. history and government to graduate. Finally, it provides crucial guidance on both the essential elements of such a U.S. history and government course, as well as a blueprint on how to implement its recommendations.

Long-standing miseducation has real consequences for the nation. On July 8, 2024, ACTA released Losing America’s Memory 2.0, a national survey assessing over 3,000 undergraduate students on their basic knowledge of America’s history and system of government. The data illustrated the depth of civic ignorance among young Americans, revealing that majorities of students could not identify term lengths for members of Congress, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, or the president of the Senate, among other worrisome findings.

In 2025, ACTA asked 3,026 college and university students if they would stay and fight or flee the country should the United States be invaded by Russia. An alarming 57% said they would flee. (An earlier poll of Americans aged 18 to 34 in 2022 by Quinnipiac University found that 48% of respondents would flee.)

ACTA has assembled 24 distinguished historians, political scientists, and education leaders to collaborate and promote the establishment of a required U.S. history course at every college and university in the country. Together, this body is known as the National Commission on American History and Civic Education, and The Broadside carries the signatures of all 24 commissioners. In addition, the report has attracted full-throated endorsements from 52 national leaders in education and public policy.

A Broadside for the Nation is the first of several work products that ACTA will issue. In June, ACTA will publish the results of its third survey of American undergraduates and their knowledge of American history, followed by a volume of essays by ten of the nation’s most eminent historians, including a preface by Sir Niall Ferguson. Nation Born in a Day: Visions of the American Founding addresses controversies surrounding slavery and abolition in America’s history. In early 2027, ACTA will release an anthology entitled What Every College Student Should Know About American History. The organization is also mounting at least three major public events to publicize The Broadside. The first, entitled Educating for a More Perfect Union, will take place on April 30^th in partnership with the American Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following that, on September 24, 2026, ACTA will partner with the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Civic Leadership for an event to discuss the nation’s legacy of religious freedom. And on December 7, 2026, The New York Historical Society will co-host an event with ACTA to chart the ways to make the American story better understood. Additional events are being added to the calendar.

ACTA’s National Commission on American History and Civic Education represents the most significant initiative yet undertaken in its 30-year legacy to revitalize the study of American history and government and restore it to its proper place in the core curriculum.
 
Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New York Historical Society and co-chair of the National Commission, said of A Broadside for the Nation, “This year, as we pursue our celebrations of the nation’s 250^th anniversary, institutions of higher learning have a unique opportunity to secure the place of privilege in the curriculum that American history and civics deserve. For, reflecting on the past 250 years and the forces that shaped the United States makes patent the critical role played by an informed and engaged citizenry in preserving our democracy. With extreme partisan politics today creating a fertile field for ‘fake news’ and shrill exaggerations to take the place of real knowledge of what we stand for as a nation and who we are as a people, the work of the National Commission on American History and Civics Education as advocate for American history and civics as a requirement for college graduation could not be more urgent or timely.” 
 
“As Americans increasingly recognize how toxic, polarized, and intolerant our politics have become, this report makes a strong case that higher education needs to reclaim its core responsibility: preparing students to be informed, engaged citizens,” said Professor Joshua Dunn, Executive Director of Institute of American Civics at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, National Commission member, and co-editor of What Every College Student Should Know About United States History and Government. “This matters, because civic knowledge isn’t just an abstract academic virtue. It correlates with greater political tolerance and a real willingness to talk with people who hold different views. The report, then, doesn’t just diagnose the problem, it points toward the solution: a genuine recommitment to serious civic and historical education. That education is essential if we want a healthier political culture. And it arrives at a particularly fitting time, as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding.” 
 
ACTA President and National Commission co-chair Michael Poliakoff commented, “The birth of America 250 years ago amazed the world, and our Founding documents have inspired the search for freedom and human rights throughout the world. The colleges and universities built and maintained by the vision and generosity of generations of Americans owe it to the nation to ensure that every student they graduate understands the precious heritage we share. Unless we regain the mystic chords of memory that Lincoln invoked and heed the admonitions of our Founders to live lives of informed civic virtue, we will lose the dynamism and will that has sustained America.  We must replace cynicism with informed patriotism. It is time for faculty, administrators, trustees, donors, and lawmakers to recognize that this 250^th anniversary year is the long overdue moment to make the necessary curricular reforms to reinstitute the American history and government requirement. There is no time left for excuses.  It is time for action.”