What I Learned Teaching Texas A&M’s Freshmen
For millions of college freshmen, their first course isn’t calculus, U.S. history, or English composition—it’s effectively “Introduction to College.” Indeed, more than 77 percent of universities surveyed by the National…
Michigan Thinks Grades Are the Problem
The University of Michigan plans to exclude first-semester letter grades from students’ transcripts to “curb the mental health crisis.” What would seem like a mundane university-level grading change has become…
Foreign Languages Are a National Interest
Ever since Benjamin Franklin wielded his fluent French to persuade Parisian elites to support the War of Independence, foreign language knowledge has enabled American diplomats and representatives—not to mention spies—to…
UT-Austin Puts the “Core” Back in Core Curriculum
For decades, the American university has been drifting away from its most important purpose: giving students a common education in the knowledge and principles they need to become educated citizens.…
The Sorry State of Holocaust Studies in North Carolina
In 2021, North Carolina made a decision that deserves real credit. With the passage of the Gizella Abramson Holocaust Education Act, the state mandated Holocaust education in public middle and…
Bringing Civics To Small Town America
That the United States has entered a crisis of civic knowledge is no secret. Students’ knowledge of American history and politics in recent years has plunged to an all-time low…
Who Put the SAT and ACT in Charge?
In the early years of the Classic Learning Test’s existence, we believed that our fight for acceptance as a college entrance exam nationwide would happen in admissions offices. We were…
UNC Gets Its Own Story Wrong
It is jarring for a litigant to parrot the false claims of its courtroom opponent. But that’s what The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has done in defending…
The Next UNC? Bucknell’s Late Arrival to the Civil Discourse Trend.
Higher education is trying to remedy political polarization using campus democracy and dialogue initiatives. When Bucknell University announced its new Initiative for Dialogue & Democracy, administrators pitched the effort as…
Two Cheers for the Great Books
Recently, Luke Burgis, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Catholic University of America, posed a provocative question: “What is the strongest argument from the political Right AGAINST Great Books programs?” In my view,…