Every Student, Every Degree

College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow's Democracy.

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This report’s action agenda calls on higher education leaders and policy leaders to make civic learning and democracy engagement part of all students’ degree requirements. It also broadens the meanings of “student success” to include students’ gains in civic purpose, bridge-building across difference, and career-related work on public good issues and problem-solving.  

Every Student, Every Degree features the trail-blazing efforts of two- and four-year institutions that are already working on these issues. It features examples of Full Participation Institutions (FPIs), where degree requirements include studies related to the CLDE Learning Framework featured in the report.  

Recommended Resources for Making College CLDE Inclusive and High Impact

Visions and Contexts for College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement (CLDE)

Progress In a Time of Disruption: The Urgency of Reimagining Higher Ed
By Jamie Merisotis (Remarks to Complete College America Convening, November 2024)

College Civic Learning for a Diverse and Divided Democracy
By David C. Paris and Carol Geary Schneider (Change Magazine, April 2024)

America Must Face Its Civic Crisis
By Trygve Throntveit and Harry Boyte (Time Magazine, June 13, 2024)

Don’t Let the Woke Narrative Blind Us To Higher Ed's Contributions
By Jamie Merisotis (Forbes, May 29, 2024)

Civic Education and the Academy, A Chancellor’s Message
By Jay Perman (University System of Maryland, May 2024)

How Do We Educate for Democracy?
AAC&U’s Liberal Education (Spring 2024)

I’m a College President, and I Hope My Campus Is Even More Political This Year
By Michael S. Roth (NYTimes Opinion, September 2, 2024)

How to be a Confident Pluralist, Danielle Allen
YouTube Video of Keynote at the UW–Madison Diversity Forum 2023, November 14, 2023

Is the Project of Democracy Fundamentally About Power Sharing?
Podcast For Interfaith America With Eboo Patel​​, November 7, 2023

The Compass of Mourning
Judith Butler writes about violence and the condemnation of violence London Review of Books (Vol. 45 No. 20 · 19 October 2023)

The Moral Deficiencies of a Liberal Education
By Ezekiel J. Emanuel (New York Times, October 17, 2023)

By Abandoning Civics, Colleges Helped Create the Culture Wars
By Debra Satz and Dan Edelstein (NYTimes Opinion, September 3, 2023)

The Founders Bequeathed Us Something Radical
By Darren Walker (NYTimes Opinion, July 4, 2022)

A Shared Commitment: Higher ed must prioritize students’ involvement in politics and civic life
By J. Cherie Strachan And Lori Poloni-Staudinger (AAC&U, Liberal Education, June 29, 2022)

All In? Or Just Some?
By Carol Geary Schneider (Inside Higher Ed, January 09, 2022)

Can Civics Education in Colleges Strengthen Democracy?
By Steven Mintz (Inside Higher Ed, October 05, 2021)

Don’t downplay the role of community colleges in healing a nation
By Eduardo Padron (The Times Higher Education, June 23, 2021)

The Democratic Imperative for Higher Education: Empowering students to become active citizens
By Tony Gallagher (AAC&U, Liberal Education, Spring 2021)

Higher Education’s Role in Enacting a Thriving Democracy: Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Theory of Change
By David Hoffman, Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, Stephanie King, and Verdis Robinson (American Democracy Project, NASPA, and The Democracy Commitment)

A Crucible Moment: College Learning & Democracy’s Future
By National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement (AAC&U, 2012)

Full Participation: Building The Architecture For Diversity And Community Engagement In Higher Education
By Susan Sturm, Tim Eatman, John Saltmarsh, and Adam Bush (Imagining America, 2011)

K-12 Civic Learning 
The Roadmap to Educating for American Democracy
Educating For American Democracy (EAD), 2021

Resources Linked to the CLDE Learning Framework

What is the Post-Election Way Forward for the College Civic Learning and Democracy Engagement Movement?
CLDE Coalition Staff (November 2024)

Rights Consciousness
By Steven Mintz (Inside Higher Ed, November 21, 2024)

Every Student, Every Degree: College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Democracy
CLDE Coalition (2024)

Full-Participation Institutions Show How to Include All Students in Civic Learning

CLDE Learning Framework: What Should Students Gain from Civic and Democracy Engagement in College?
College Civic Learning (2024)

Can You Teach Free Speech? These Colleges Are Trying.
By Christa Dutton (The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 3, 2024)

Democracy Re/Designed
By The Institute for Democracy and Higher Education at AAC&U (2024)

Can Professors Get STEM Students to Vote? 
By Johanna Alonso (Inside Higher Ed, August 28, 2024)

Better Discourse: A Guide for Bridging Campus Divides in Challenging Times
By Campus Compact (July 25, 2024) 

6 ways to encourage political discussion on college campuses 
By Rachel Wahl (The Conversation, May 24, 2024)

Should Colleges Engage in Ethics Education? 
By Steven Mintz (Inside Higher Ed, October 19, 2023)

Every Student, Every Degree: College Civic Learning for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Democracy
CLDE Coalition. (2024)

Sample Community College Guided Pathway Using the CLDE Framework

Sample Four-Year Guided Pathway Using the CLDE Framework


Whole-College Guided Pathways Reform Practices: Scale of Adoption by Community Colleges in Three States
By Davis Jenkins, Taylor Myers & Farzana Matin (Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University: September 2023) 

Practicing Democracy: A Toolkit for Educating Civic Professionals
By Nicholas V. Longo (2023)

Educating Undergraduates for American Democracy: The Third Way Civics Approach
By Trygve Throntveit, Anand R. Marr, Ronald Mahurin, David J. Roof (Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 2023)

Bridgebuilding in Higher Education: A Landscape Analysis 
By Interfaith America in partnership with More Perfect (2023)

Key into Public Service 2023 Resources  
Phi Beta Kappa (2023)

Third-Way Civics 
By Trygve Throntveit and Peter Levine (Inside Higher Ed, May 03, 2022)

Infusing Civic Inquiry and Purpose Across the Core Curriculum
Handout with links to campus programs (2022)

Voice, Agency, Action: Infusing Civic Inquiry and Projects Across General Education and Career Studies
Session Slides (2022)

The Citizens Campaign 
Leadership & No-Blame Problem Solving

A free and fully automated certificate course that is available to all Americans
Citizen Power: A Citizen Leadership Manual
By Harry S. Pozycki (Rutgers University Press, 2020)

Next Generation Service Corps (NextGen Service)
The Volcker Alliance

Dialogue, Inclusion, and Democracy (DID) Lab
Providence College

Community-Based Global Learning Collaborative 
A network of educational institutions and community organizations

Resources for Academic Freedom and Freedom to Learn

Academic Freedom and Free Speech
by Lincoln Caplan (Harvard Magazine Inc., September-October 2024)

Opinion | We’ve lost our way on campus. Here’s how we can find our way back. 
By Danielle Allen (The Washington Post, December 10, 2023)

Who Should Shape What Colleges Teach? Not the government, most Americans say. 
By Emma Pettit, with graphics by Brian O'Leary (The Chronicle of Higher Education, September 13, 2023)

Educational Gag Orders: How colleges and universities can respond
By Jeremy C. Young And Jonathan Friedman (AAC&U Liberal Education, Spring 2023)

AAC&U’s Public Statements on Government Overreach 

Campus Free Expression: A New Roadmap
Bipartisan Policy Center (November 20, 2021)

Academic Freedom and Educational Responsibility
A Statement From The Board Of Directors Of AAC&U (AAC&U 2006)

Research and Data 

The National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE) 
Tufts University

Civic Language Perceptions Project 2024: How Civic Language Unites, Divides, & Motivates American Voters
By PACE, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (2024)

The Community College and Civics Report  
By the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center and the American Association of Colleges and Universities (July 1, 2024)

Assessing the Civic Campus
The Link Between Higher Education and Democracy

By Ioana G. Hulbert and Deirdre Harkins (American Association of State Colleges and Universities and Ithaka S+R, June 2024)

Free Speech and Inclusion: How College Students Are Navigating Shifting Speech Norms
The Constructive Dialogue Institute and More in Common (September 21, 2023)

The Civic Outlook of Young Adults in America
&
The Civic Outlook of Young Adults in America, Fact Sheet
Institute for Citizens & Scholars, September 21, 2023

Education Beyond High School Improves People's Lives in 50 Ways, including Civic Involvement
Lumina Foundation, August 30, 2023

Evidence on the Value of Service Learning for Students
Derek Price, DVP-PRAXIS LTD (Presentation at CLDE Forum February 6, 2023)

How College Students Benefit from Civic Learning and Engagement
Summary of Findings from 2022 AAC&U Synthesis of Research on Community-Based and Civic Engagement (AAC&U, 2022)

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) Cohort Data
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion ( CCSSE 2022 Cohort Data)
Service Learning  (CCSSE 2021 Cohort Data)

Five Key Takeaways from IDEALS
By Shauna Morin (Interfaith America, January 6, 2021)

The Community Colleges’ Role in Developing Students’ Civic Outcomes: Results of a National Pilot
By Carrie B. Kisker, Dayna S. Weintraub, and Mallory Angeli Newell (Community College Review, 2016)

Preparing Leaders and Faculty to Advance CLDE

From Polarization to Progress, College Presidents Join Forces
College Presidents for Civic Preparedness (The Institute for Citizens & Scholars, Progress Report: August 2023–June 2024)

Civic Engagement Across the Curriculum (CEAC)
A 20-hour training module designed to support the integration of civic engagement experiences into any planned or designed course. This course, based on a program previously offered in-person for Salisbury University faculty, now is open access, asynchronous, and without charge for all interested faculty. (Salisbury University - Maryland)

Teaching, Learning, Equity and Change: Realizing the Promise of Professional Learning
By Eynon, et al (Every Learner Everywhere, 2023)

The New Learning Compact: A Systemic Approach to a Systemic Problem
By Eynon, Bass, Iuzinni and Gambino (CHANGE: The Magazine of Higher Learning, Spring 2022)

The ATD Teaching & Learning Toolkit: A Research-Based Guide to Building a Culture of Teaching & Learning Excellence
By Eynon and Iuzinni (Achieving the Dream, 2020)

History Notes

Opinion | What explains the genius and originality of the American Founders? 
By Gordon S. Wood (The Washington Post, July 2, 2024)

How American Democracy Fell So Far Behind
By Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt (The Atlantic, September 5, 2023)