CAMPUS

College Students Lack Civic Literacy

Our very own Intercollegiate Studies Institute has just released the results of a study, conducted by the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy, that shows college students are woefully ignorant in areas of U.S. history, government and civics. The study subjected freshmen and seniors from around the country to a multiple-choice quiz; the Chronicle of Higher Education sums up the results:

These numbers are actually down from the ISI’s 2006 survey, in which seniors scored an average 54 percent.

But the ISI claims the problem is not due to any deficiency in the students, but rather a deficiency in the college curriculum (i.e. the phasing out of “dead, white male” classes in favor of various “studies” classes). It’s a criticism that has been voiced many times, from William F. Buckley to Harold Bloom. Most recently, George Leef of the Pope Center lamented the decay of general ed in “General Education Smorgasbord Offers Mostly Junk Food.”

You can try your hand at the ISI’s civic literacy quiz here.