The American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative-leaning foundation for educational issues, has put out a worthwhile report examining the core curricula of 100 leading colleges and universities in the U.S. The "core curriculum" in most institutions is the part of the undergraduate program that promises to provide a well-rounded education and introduce students to the essentials of learning that they need in order to be a well-educated person.
ACTA set out a list of subjects that an ideal program would include, and found that very few schools addressed the whole list. Interestingly, the state universities seemed to do a better job than the elite private colleges that charge over $30,000 per year.
For parents considering schools for their children, ACTA's summary report (PDF) is worth seeing, and the accompanying website looks useful too.
(Hat tip to Prof. Jenny Donelson, who found this mentioned in a related NYT piece by not-conservative-leaning literature prof Stanley Fish.)
