The Effect of College on Civic Knowledge

A new survey of 2,508 Americans conducted by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute asked 39 questions intended to evaluate the impact of a college education on people’s beliefs. The results are as discouraging as they are predictable:

Conventional wisdom holds that there is a strong connection between how much people know and how much college education they receive—the more college, the more knowledge. ISI’s research, however, demonstrates that on most campuses, this seemingly obvious correlation is quite marginal where knowledge of America’s history and institutions is concerned.

Additionally, the survey discovered that if two people share the same basic characteristics, the one who has taught at the college level is more likely to agree that:

* America corrupts otherwise good people;
* The Ten Commandments are irrelevant today;
* Raising the minimum wage decreases employment;
* Educators should instill more doubt in students and reject certainty;
* Homeschooling families neglect their community obligations.

Read more of the findings at the ISI website .