Greg Rosenke, Unsplash In an era of the internet, AI, and constant information overload, most public colleges and universities in the United States still don’t consistently make syllabi and course information publicly available.
Syllabus transparency means giving the public access to syllabi—course materials, required and recommended readings, grading criteria, and course objectives. Full transparency goes further: it includes course descriptions, weekly topics, required materials, assignments, and a clear grading breakdown.
Without syllabus transparency, everyone loses. Students can’t make informed decisions when choosing courses. Parents don’t know what they’re paying for. Taxpayers have little visibility into how their hard-earned dollars are spent at public universities. And instructors, without publicly available syllabi, are more exposed to misrepresentation, grade disputes, and complaints.
Syllabus transparency laws and regulations—whether passed by legislatures or adopted by university system boards—exist in only seven states.
In this report, we first examine which states require syllabus transparency and how they got there—whether through legislation or action by university system boards. We also lay out a set of practical policy recommendations that state lawmakers and trustees can adopt.
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Martin Center Staff
