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A liberal education provides the foundational knowledge and skills that empower students to advance the common good through responsible and engaged citizenship in local, national, and global contexts.
Democracy is central to the mission of higher education. AAC&U advances the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education—supporting institutions in preparing students for informed, engaged citizenship.
Educating for democracy requires intentional alignment across leadership, learning, and assessment. AAC&U partners with its members to build this capacity and translate shared values into meaningful, campus-wide impact.
Through networks like the Presidents’ Trust, institutional leaders collaborate to advance the role of liberal education in strengthening democracy, student success, and community well-being.
AAC&U supports member campuses with programs that connect academic and cocurricular learning to civic, global, and community-based outcomes. Initiatives such as the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education and Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Centers help institutions foster inclusive engagement across diverse communities.
AAC&U helps institutions measure progress and strengthen impact through the VALUE initiative, offering tools to assess essential learning outcomes—including civic engagement, global learning, intercultural competence, ethical reasoning, and lifelong learning—in service of equity and democracy.
Help Desk
Receive timely, free preventive guidance and troubleshooting advice on navigating politicized conflict, difficult discussions, intimidation because of what you research and teach, or unifying your campus in defense of academic freedom.
Toolkit
Democracy Re/Designed in a conceptual framework and toolkit that colleges and universities can use to engage students and the campus community in envisioning a more aspirational democracy that works for everyone.
Resources
Educate students across disciplines and career paths on living in and shaping a more aspirational democracy and shared future.
Guide
AAC&U is a founding partner in the CLDE Coalition, which developed this “how-to“ guide for making college civic learning empowering for students, feasible for faculty, and renewing for a divided and skeptical democracy.
Research
This report assesses the state of research on high-impact practices in higher education and synthesizes research on the efficacy of community-based and civic engagement, specifically.
Toolkit
Designed to help cultivate civic professionalism across all majors, this guide offers adaptable lessons and assessment tools that support critical dialogue and democratic engagement among diverse student groups.
AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella explores crisis-era ethics, equity, and public health, arguing liberal education is essential to rebuilding civic trust and sustaining democracy in a polarized America.
This book presents a model for how colleges can partner with local communities through civic engagement and anchor collaborations to address inequality, strengthen local development, and revitalize democratic life.
This book explores how community colleges advance access, economic mobility, and democracy, examining their challenges and offering strategies to strengthen student success and regional development.
This publication highlights models for interfaith teaching, learning, and campus engagement, showing how colleges can prepare students to navigate religious diversity and contribute to a more inclusive democracy.
Magazine
Colleges and universities must foster civic engagement in today’s students
Magazine
The ruling against the use of race in admissions will increase barriers to educational opportunity
Magazine
We asked US adults what colleges and universities have to offer individuals, the economy, and the nation. Here are the results.
Magazine
A focus on the very foundation of a liberal education can help restore public trust