Press Release

CONTACT: Joann Stevens
(202) 387-3760
E-mail:stevens@aacu.org

AAC&U Announces New Initiative to set "Greater Expectations" for Student Achievement in College

Vision for a high quality 21st century education serving our country's diverse college population, and the campus practices to support it, will be established by multi-year project.

Washington DC—January 20, 2000—A $1.5 million grant to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) from The Pew Charitable Trusts will launch a nationwide effort to raise expectations about what undergraduates should know and be able to do as a result of going to college. The initiative, announced today at the Association's January 2000 annual meeting, will address what society will need from higher education as this new century advances.

"American higher education is seen world-wide as one of the true gems of U.S. society," says AAC&U Vice President Andrea Leskes, director of the new initiative. "However, we can improve its effectiveness as we educate all students for the realities of the new century."

Almost three quarters of recent high school graduates now enroll in college within two years of high school, but many drop out before completion. According to Carol Geary Schneider, AAC&U President, "The near-universality of post-secondary education, one of the strengths of the American system, poses new challenges for the academy. We have opened the doors to college without taking full account of what it will actually take to help all students reap the potential benefits of a college education."

The initiative, entitled "Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College," will bring into the conversation about these issues parties that higher education has not traditionally included: K-12, government, the private sector, and community groups.

Greater Expectations responds to widespread calls for college students to achieve a lengthening list of outcomes from their studies as they prepare for a complex world. Business and civic leaders alike identify the following capacities as important for college graduates:

• strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including systemic thinking
  
• capacity to frame new questions and address unscripted, complex problems
  
• skill in integrating knowledge across fields
  
• ability to communicate well in English and in a second language
  
• attention to the consequences of their choices and decisions
  
• skill in complex information retrieval and evaluation
  
• ability to work in multicultural teams
  
• commitment to democratic values, equality, and civic engagement
  
• knowledge of other cultures and the changing world community.

These capacities have traditionally been associated with a liberal arts education that prepares students for a life as well as a living, and for active engagement in society. "Clearly, a college education based on the liberal arts philosophy will continue to be relevant-even more important in the coming century than in the last," propose AAC&U's leaders. "What we need to ensure is that the present and future generations of college students actually achieve these powerful abilities." Adds Peter Stanley, Chair of AAC&U's Board of Directors and President of Pomona College, "We are pleased that The Pew Charitable Trusts have recognized the importance of this endeavor and become our active partner."

Initiative leaders intend to turn a spotlight on the work students actually undertake and the way education at various levels builds cumulative learning. "We must look beyond the individual courses students complete," observes Carol Schneider, "to see what they are learning to do with the knowledge they acquire. We need to create more intentional connections between high school and college, so students are prepared to do genuinely intellectual work."

The Greater Expectations initiative will cooperate with other organizations addressing educational improvement, including accreditation associations. It will also coordinate work with the most promising aspects of the school reform movement. The project's leaders anticipate arriving at a new definition of "quality" in college education based predominantly on student achievement during the undergraduate years.

The first of many reports from the initiative should appear in 2002.

The Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health and human services, public policy, and religion. Based in Philadelphia, the Trusts make strategic investments to help organizations and citizens develop practical solutions to difficult problems. In 1998, with approximately $4.734 billion in assets, the Trusts granted over $213 million to 298 nonprofit organizations.

For additional information on Greater Expectations, please see AAC&U's statement, "The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College."

Revised February, 2000