A new survey conducted by American Council of Trustees and Alumni has found greater inconsistency in academic standards across the United States.
The annual survey of college general education curricula, titled What Will They Learn?, found that only 3.2 percent of schools require students to study economics, 17.1 percent of schools require them to take a course in U.S. history or government, and only 11.8 percent require to study a foreign language at intermediate level.
The Council survey reviewed the core curricula of more than 1,100 public and private institutions across the nation to determine the standards of their general education program and grades are them on “A” through “F” scale.
“Today’s graduate will confront globalized competition and make high stakes decisions as a citizen. What Will They Learn? signals that every college and university must come together and ensure that all graduates master the core collegiate skills needed to meet these challenges,” ACTA President Michael Poliakoff said.
This year, the council awarded grade “A” to just 23 colleges and universities, 342 institutions received a “B” grade, while the majority of schools received grades from “C” to “F.”