America’s Elite Universities Failing in History and Civics

Some people may find this surprising but if you have been following what has been happening on America’s college campuses lately this shouldn’t be surprising at all:

In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. Students were asked 60 multiple-choice questions to measure their knowledge in four subject areas: America’s history, government, international relations, and market economy. The disappointing results were published by ISI in fall 2006 in The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions. Seniors, on average, failed all four subjects, and their overall average score was 53.2%. [Civic Literacy Report]

Make sure you read the entire link because the findings are astounding.  Harvard University showed their eliteness by having their seniors score the highest on the test by barely passing with a D+ average of 69.6%.  I agree totally with JD Johannes view of these findings:

The universities defended themselves on the grounds they teach analysis rather than facts but there is problem with their defense–without a grounding in facts, what good is the ability to engage in proper analysis?

The failure of graduates of elite universities to understand the most basic and established facts explains much of the current debate on Iraq and the war on terror. [Outside the Wire]

Make sure to read the rest because he makes some excellent points about education in America’s colleges and how that relates to opinions made about the war in Iraq. 

You can take the test yourself and see how you compare to America’s so called academic elite at Harvard.  Just for the record I scored a 83.33% and a couple of the questions I missed I shouldn’t have if I read the questions more carefully.