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ACTA in the NewsCivic Education
Why don’t more Americans know why we celebrate July 4?
USA Today | July 1, 2026 by Ingrid Jacques
As America marks its 250th birthday on July 4, I want to make a radical suggestion: All Americans should read…
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A Broadside for the Nation
April 21, 2026
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.
Civic Education
The Story of Our Nation: How Well Do College Students Know America?
In the spring of 2026, ACTA surveyed over 3,000 college and university students on basic knowledge of American history and government. Our data shows that far too many students are earning college degrees without a rudimentary knowledge of the nation’s history and civic structure.
PROMOTING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
Intoning Our Independence
Law & Liberty | July 1, 2026 by Dr. Joshua Katz
Nearly six years ago, in the terrible summer of 2020, I published an article titled “A Declaration of Independence by a Princeton Professor.” In the first paragraph, I wrote that my family and I had “sat around the festive table” a few days before, on the Fourth of July, and “read the Declaration [of Independence] aloud in […]
Intoning Our Independence
A Broadside for the Nation
ACTA’s A Broadside for the Nation: Preparing College Students for Informed Citizenship convenes 24 historians and education leaders who argue that America’s 250th anniversary demands a renewal of civic education. The report urges colleges to require every student to complete a semester-long course on the American story.
Download PDFDEFENDING ACADEMIC FREEDOm
Can Civics Centers Revive Higher Education? with guest Lee Strang
June 30, 2026
Are the new university civics centers the key to solving the intellectual diversity crisis in higher education? In this episode of Radio Free Campus, podcast co-hosts Steve McGuire and Justin Garrison talk with Lee Strang, executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University, about how university-based civics centers are at the forefront of a revival of civic education and intellectual diversity in American higher education. Not everyone is pleased. Steve and Justin also discuss the funding and organizational efforts behind the AAUP’s campaign to undermine these new civics centers.
Can Civics Centers Revive Higher Education? with guest Lee StrangACTA Supports House Bills Protecting Freedom of Association and Equal Campus Access
June 25, 2026
Earlier today the House Education and Workforce Committee met to debate and amend a number of bills, including two…
University of Idaho Report Card
June 23, 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
Max Schanzenbach: An Insider’s Guide to Divestment
June 30, 2026
ACTA’s chief of staff and SVP, Armand Alacbay, interviews Max Schanzenbach, the Seigle Family Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law. Professor Schanzenbach’s work focuses on the intersection between economy and law, and he recently coauthored multiple papers on university divestment policies. In this conversation, he explains the crucial nuances that most discussions about universities […]
Max Schanzenbach: An Insider’s Guide to DivestmentIs college worth it? Here are the majors that pay off.
USA Today | June 25, 2026 by Daniel de Vise
A bachelor’s degree in any college major pays off in the long run. That’s the takeaway from an in-depth…
Board Seminars for College and University Trustees
June 24, 2026
These are times of great challenge for colleges and universities – and for the nation. There has never been…
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 NewsCivic Education
Intoning Our Independence
Law & Liberty | July 1, 2026 by Dr. Joshua Katz
Nearly six years ago, in the terrible summer of 2020, I published an article titled “A Declaration of Independence by a Princeton Professor.” In the first paragraph, I wrote that my family and I had “sat around the festive table” a few days before, on the Fourth of July, and “read the D…
ACTA in the NewsCivic Education
Why don’t more Americans know why we celebrate July 4?
USA Today | July 1, 2026 by Ingrid Jacques
As America marks its 250th birthday on July 4, I want to make a radical suggestion: All Americans should read the Declaration of Independence. Maybe it’s the English major in me. But there’s something to be said for reading these words yourself. Not enough of us are. An alarming …
ACTA in the NewsCivic Education
The Republic Doesn’t Ratify Itself
AEIdeas | June 29, 2026 by Samuel J. Abrams
When the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) asked 3,009 undergraduates where the words “government of the people, by the people, for the people” come from, only 26 percent could place them in the Gettysburg Address. Set aside, for a moment, the embarrassment of a college senior failin…
ACTA in the NewsCivic Education
Surveys show challenges to America at 250 years
Kentucky Today | June 26, 2026 by Richard Nelson
July 4, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Blood and hardship were the price American patriots paid for the idea of God-given rights, the rule of law, and self-defense against tyrants. The colonists fought and suffered for seven long years until in…
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.
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