The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) today released a survey that shows how little college graduates and the general public know about the Constitution. According to the study, nearly 10% of college graduates think Judith Sheindlin—commonly known as Judge Judy—is on the Supreme Court; one-third of college graduates can’t identify the Bill of Rights as a name given to a group of Constitutional amendments; and 32% believe that Representative John Boehner is the current president of the U.S. Senate. Shockingly, 46% of college grads don’t know the election cycle—six years for senators, two years for representatives. Turning to the general population, the report finds that over half (54%) of those surveyed cannot identify the Bill of Rights accurately, and over one in ten (11%) of those ages 25–34 believe that the Constitution must be reauthorized every four years.
In time for the 150th anniversary of the tragic night when John Wilkes Booth slipped into Ford’s Theater and shot President Abraham Lincoln, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni released a survey that reveals another tragedy: Lincoln—and much of his legacy—is being lost to the ages. According to the survey, only half of the American […]
ACTA teams up with GfK on a new survey on American historical literacy just in time for the premiere of Ken Burns’ PBS documentary, “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History.” The study found that over half of American adults don’t know Franklin D. Roosevelt spearheaded the New Deal, and 59% don’t know Theodore Roosevelt had a […]
ACTA teams up with Gfk Roper OmniTel to conduct a new survey on American historical literacy. Again, the results are troubling. Less than half of the college graduates surveyed could identify George Washington as the general at Yorktown. Only 20% could identify the “Father of the Constitution.” Less than half of college graduates surveyed could identify the […]
Civics class, and principles of democracy class (or “problems” of democracy, depending on who you ask) are supposed to give young people a solid basis for understanding how our government functions. Recent survey data indicate many weren’t paying very much attention. The American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s “A Crisis in Civic Education” report outlines […]
For any incoming college freshman, stumbling onto campus the first day has to be a disorienting experience. There’s so much you don’t know, ranging from where to eat to where your classes are to why your roommate insists on only changing his socks every three days. But there are certain things the university requires you […]
There is a crisis of civic education in America today. For the last 20 years, study after study has shown that most Americans lack a basic understanding of the country’s history and political institutions. America’s Knowledge Crisis: A Survey of Civic Literacy, shows that college-educated Americans do only slightly better than those without a four-year […]
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