New Publication
Cambridge, MA | January 26, 2026 — The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has released Preparing Students for Civic Life: A Guide for Higher Education Leaders, a publication designed to help colleges and universities address a defining academic and societal challenge: preparing young people today with the knowledge, skills, and habits to sustain a healthy constitutional democracy.
The new guide responds to a decline in public trust in American institutions and the growing recognition among higher education leaders that democratic engagement is central to student success, community well-being, and the future of the nation.
“In an age when democracy can feel abstract or inaccessible, higher education has a profound opportunity to make it real,” said Laurie L. Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. “This guide helps institutions do just that: by preparing students to listen, deliberate, work across differences, and lead in their communities. These are not soft skills; they are durable skills that are essential to democratic life and the workforce students enter.”
The publication was developed by a working group of university presidents, faculty, and civic experts, led by David E. Campbell (University of Notre Dame) and Ben Vinson III (Case Western Reserve University; Harvard University; National Humanities Center). The publication outlines eight institution-wide strategies to embed democratic learning across curricula, culture, and community. The publication complements the strategies with six case studies of institutions already putting these approaches into practice.
The publication comes at a crucial time: young people are expressing historically low levels of trust in institutions and democracy. The publication notes that colleges and universities have “a particular responsibility to help reverse these trends,” given their convening power, their role as sites of inquiry, and their deep ties to communities.
The strategies outlined in the report set forth how campuses can embed democratic values across institutional culture and curriculum:
collaborating across departments;
promoting civic engagement every year, not just election years;
connecting civics to every major;
supporting faculty cultivation of civic skills;
fostering discussion and listening;
articulating the value of democratic engagement;
building community partnerships, and
identifying key performance indicators for political learning.
These strategies are illustrated through case studies from a varied set of institutions: Longwood University, Maricopa County Community College District, The Ohio State University, Salisbury University, Stanford University, and University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
This project emerged from the Academy’s ongoing effort to revitalize American democracy rooted in the recommendations of the cross-ideological Our Common Purpose report. Preparing Students for Civic Life reflects the working group’s shared recognition that higher education must “commit to its democratic mission” and equip students with the civic skills, habits, and dispositions required for a healthy constitutional democracy. It is intended to be a resource for all who seek to engage in the important work of developing approaches and resources for students and schools.