Who We Are

Upholding General Education Standards

As an ongoing project of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, What Will They Learn?® aims to encourage higher education institutions to strengthen their general education requirements. If colleges and universities do so, students will graduate better acquainted with our cultural and intellectual inheritance, equipped for the workforce, and ready to participate in their communities as informed citizens. The What Will They Learn?® team also works to educate families and educators about the importance of students selecting colleges or universities with a strong core curriculum.

View FAQs

Rating Criteria and the Seven Core Subjects

Because a well-designed general education curriculum prepares college students for career success, informed citizenship, and human flourishing, What Will They Learn?® rates each institution on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program.

The Value of a Liberal Arts Curriculum

What are the “liberal arts” and why does What Will They Learn?® promote their study? How do the liberal arts help students succeed on the job market and in life? Click here to learn more.

Academic Excellence and ACTA

Founded in 1995, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) is committed to promoting academic excellence, academic freedom, and accountability in American higher education. An ACTA project dedicated to academic excellence, What Will They Learn?® (WWTL) has evaluated American colleges and universities with stated liberal arts missions since 2009 on the strength of their general education programs. WWTL is the only college search tool that tracks what college students are actually learning.

Core Curriculum

What Will They Learn?® rates each institution on how many of seven core subjects are required in the core curriculum or general education program. The subjects are: Composition, Literature, (intermediate-level) Foreign Language, U.S. Government or History, Economics, Mathematics, and Natural Science.

Why It Matters

A well-designed general education curriculum equips students for conversations of perennial human concern and provides a foundation in essential aspects of our political, economic, and scientific systems.