Rankings
NO COLLEGE EARNED BETTER THAN A “D+”
Rank College Mean Senior Score (2006) (% correct)
1. Harvard University 69.56%
2. Grove City College (PA) 67.26
3. Washington & Lee University (VA) 66.98
4. Yale University 65.85
5. Brown University 65.64
6. University of Virginia 65.28
7. Wheaton College (IL) 64.98
8. University of Pennsylvania 63.49
9. Duke University 63.41
10. Bowdoin College (ME) 62.86
11. Princeton University 61.90
12. University of Notre Dame 61.25
13. Rhodes College (TN) 61.18
14. Smith College (MA) 60.07
15. University of Rochester (NY)* 59.32
16. University of Wisconsin 57.87
17. University of Georgia* 57.76
18. University of North Carolina 57.68
19. Cornell University 56.95
20. Carnegie Mellon University* 56.90
21. Calvin College (MI) 56.45
22. University of California-Berkeley 56.27
23. University of Washington 55.88
24. Concordia University (NE)* 55.28
25. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities* 53.50
26. University of Florida 53.40
27. Iowa State University* 52.69
28. University of Montana* 52.16
29. Gonzaga University (WA) 51.86
30. University of Michigan 51.00
31. Illinois State University* 50.93
32. Mississippi State University* 50.86
33. Rutgers University* 49.99
34. George Mason University (VA) 49.96
35. Murray State University (KY)* 49.75
36. University of Mississippi 49.32
37. IdahoState University* 48.15
38. University of Massachusetts-Amherst* 46.66
39. Mount Vernon Nazarene University (OH)* 44.60
40. Pfeiffer University (NC)* 44.30
41. St. Cloud State University (MN)* 44.26
42. Texas State University-San Marcos* 43.99
43. Georgia College and State University* 43.68
44. University of Southern Maine* 43.58
45. Marian College (WI)* 43.10
46. Texas A&M International University* 41.14
47. Eastern Connecticut State University* 40.99
48. St. John’s University (NY)* 39.82
49. Oakwood College (AL)* 34.69
50. St. Thomas University (FL)* 32.50
* Randomly selected school
See here (from the Pennsylvania area) :
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_528201.html
Grove City students shine in history knowledge
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
American college students as a group are as likely to flunk a basic history exam as pass it, but a study released Tuesday found those at Grove City College know more than most.
The study for the Washington, D.C.-based Intercollegiate Studies Institute shows the nation’s freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities scored an average of just more than 50 percent — or an F — on a basic American history test.
Among Pennsylvania schools, Grove City seniors ranked second nationally with 67.3 percent correct; the University of Pennsylvania, eighth, with 63.5 percent; and Carnegie Mellon University, 20th, with 56.9 percent.
“Schools are not focusing much on civic literacy,” concluded Ken Dautrich, a public policy professor at the University of Connecticut, who conducted the study. “They’re focusing more on math, science, specialization and business degrees.”
“Grove City is attracting students into their program that are already better informed on the civic education scale,” he said.
William P. Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Grove City, said he was pleased by the results.
“It shows our general education curriculum and the way we teach students history and political philosophy prepares them for citizenship,” he said.
Students answered 60 questions on American politics, U.S. history, American economy and foreign relations.
Joe Trotter, head of the history department at Carnegie Mellon, attributed its low score to adding the history of women, blacks and other ethnic and racial groups to the curriculum.
“The result of that is some of the things that we considered conventional knowledge has had to share a place with the knowledge that very few people knew anything about 30 years ago,” he said.
The study showed that students attending Ivy League and other high-priced schools had some of the lowest scores. In addition, students across the nation showed little gain in their knowledge of history between their freshmen and senior years — an average of 3.8 points.
Grove City seniors improved by 3.6 points, Carnegie Mellon by 2.8 points and Penn by 0.8 points.
Trotter said Carnegie Mellon is training undergraduates to become historians themselves. He said its students would have scored better if they had been tested on an expanded view of history.
Students at Grove City must take six courses or 18 credits on the history of civilization. Dautrich said freshmen there scored so high that they “had less room to move up.”
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2995426