It may not have surprised you to read that college students don’t know much about the cultural origins of their cell phones, but wouldn’t you think that students of the most expensive colleges would be able to pass a basic U.S. History test?

Not so, according to a study recently released by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. To test the American college student’s “civic literacy,” each of the 14,000 freshmen and senior from 50 U.S. colleges subjects took a 60-question quiz. The multiple-choice exam tested students’ knowledge of U.S. history, government, economics, and international relations. (You can take the quiz for yourself if you’re curious!)

You can probably guess the results from the title of this entry—the students of prestigious schools tended to show much less gain in civic knowledge than their smaller, regional counterparts. Cornell, Yale, Duke, and Princeton were at the bottom of those rankings this year!

But they aren’t the only schools whose students have trouble in this area. The average nationwide score in this study was 54.2%—that would translate to an “F” on a real test! What’s even more embarrassing is that of all the colleges that participated in the survey, not one of them had an average score of a “C” for their senior year participants!

I always tell my clients that just because a college has an expensive price tag or big name doesn’t guarantee that it will be the best fit for a particular student. A brand name can’t guarantee that a student will be provided with the most appropriate learning environment for him or her. Do your research—those four college years are important stepping stones to your child’s adult life!

All the best,
Deborah Fox

Deborah Fox is the founder of Fox College Funding, a nationwide company that helps families find creative ways to reduce their college costs.

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