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You Can Help Shape the Future of Higher Education

Join ACTA in promoting Academic Excellence, Academic Freedom, and Accountability in higher education.

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The
Latest

Arizona Report Card

January 31, 2025

AZ’s public universities should be leaders in free expression and diversity of thought, with policies and campus cultures that welcome new ideas and different points of view. Although they have taken important steps toward this goal in the last few years, new research from ACTA’s Campus Freedom Initiative® indicates they have more work to do.

PROMOTING ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

ACTA Testifies Before the Ohio Senate Committee on Higher Education in Support of Senate Bill 1

January 29, 2025

ACTA President Michael Poliakoff testified before the Ohio Senate Committee on Higher Education in support of Senate Bill 1, the “Advance Ohio Higher Education Act.”

ACTA Testifies Before the Ohio Senate Committee on Higher Education in Support of Senate Bill 1
See All Academic Excellence Initiatives
See All Academic Excellence Initiatives
Trustee toolkit

No U.S. History?

ACTA’s report, “No U.S. History? How College History Departments Leave the United States out of the Major,” found that 18 of the top 25 public universities did not have a wide-ranging American history requirement for students seeking a B.A. in history in the major or core curriculum.

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DEFENDING ACADEMIC FREEDOm

Can Arizona’s Universities Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?

February 4, 2025

ACTA has released a survey of over 3,000 students at Arizona’s three public universities as well as a report card evaluating the state of free expression on these campuses.

Can Arizona’s Universities Achieve a Gold Standard for Freedom of Expression?
See All Academic Freedom Initiatives
See All Academic Freedom Initiatives
Trustee toolkit

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.

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ENSURING ACCOUNTABILITY

2025 Higher Education Policy Action Agenda

January 30, 2025

As a new administration comes into office and Congress begins its first session, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) calls on our representatives to turn their attention to American higher education and finally take decisive action. There is much to be done, but change is most urgently needed in the following five areas: […]

2025 Higher Education Policy Action Agenda
See All Accountability Initiatives
See All Accountability Initiatives
Trustee toolkit

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.

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IN THE
NEWS

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

16,000+

students from 100+ Institutions have engaged in 400+ civil discourse debates, dialogues, and workshops through ACTA’s college debates program partnership with Braver Angels and Bridge USA.

1,452

news outlets in 2024 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.

WHO WE ARE

Launched in 1995, we are the only organization that works with alumni, donors, trustees, and education leaders across the United States to support liberal arts education, uphold high academic standards, safeguard the free exchange of ideas on campus, and ensure that the next generation receives an intellectually rich, high-quality college education at an affordable price.

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