Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP)

Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) is an initiative that champions the value of a liberal education—for individual students and for a nation dependent on economic creativity and democratic vitality. The initiative focuses campus practice on fostering essential learning outcomes for all students, whatever their chosen field of study.

LEAP is AAC&U’s primary vehicle for advancing and communicating about the importance of undergraduate liberal education for all students. LEAP seeks to engage the public with core questions about what really matters in college, to give students a compass to guide their learning, and to make a set of essential learning outcomes the preferred framework for educational excellence, assessment of learning, and new alignments between school and college.

Recent LEAP Public Forums

Responsibility in a Time of Crisis
May 21, 2009, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm
Miami Dade College
Miami, FL

More LEAP forums

LEAP Public Forums are supported by generous grants from The Charles Engelhard Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation, and by contributions from participating and hosting institutions.

What's New From LEAP

UW System Announces Winners of Annual Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition

As part of the fourth annual UW System Liberal Arts Essay Scholarship Competition, University of Wisconsin undergraduate students were invited to imagine themselves as a graduating senior giving advice to a younger sibling on how best to navigate college in order to reap the benefits of a liberal education. This year’s three winners are: Lisa Braun, for “A Vote for Understanding”; and Melissa P. Hepokoski, for “My Piece of the Web; and Gillian Stoddard Leatherberry, for “The Spaces Between: Liberal Arts and Citizenship.” In addition, honorable mentions were awarded to essay writers K.R. Draeger and Stephanie Wisnet.  See the winning essays and more information about LEAP Wisconsin.

UW-Green Bay Student Lauds Liberal Education in Commencement Speech

Ben Schmidt, the 2009 Student Commencement Speaker at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, delivered a speech in which he outlines the value of a liberal education. The author states, "Because we chose to attend UW-Green Bay, we’ve gained the opportunity to enhance our liberal arts education by taking advantage of interdisciplinary fields of study. The actual end or goal of a liberal arts education, at least in my view, is the betterment of our lives as human beings, to find our purpose in life and to care for our souls."

Signature LEAP Report—Read the latest version of The Executive Summary

AAC&U has released a new version of the executive summary (pdf) of College Learning for the New Global Century which now includes summaries of findings from our surveys of business leaders released in 2007 and 2008. The findings detail the skills and knowledge areas on which employers want colleges and universities to place more emphasis and how and why they value a liberal education. They also highlight employers’ views on various approaches to outcomes assessment and reveal their clear support for more qualitative forms of assessment and rejection of multiple choice testing at the undergraduate level. It is ideal for initiating discussions with trustees, boards of regents, business advisory councils, and other campus or community groups.

The LEAP campaign includes three primary and concurrent strands of activity:

A Public Advocacy initiative for liberal education, which is being carried out nationally by the LEAP National Leadership Council and regionally through advocacy initiatives in a series of partner states;

A Campus Action Network which works with colleges and universities of every kind from across the country and in selected partner states to articulate high expectations for liberal education and to transparently connect their educational practices and assessments to these expectations;

A research initiative detailing Evidence on Learning Outcomes, designed to provide evidence on selected outcomes of a liberal education and periodic public reports on progress in helping students meet twenty-first century educational standards.

LEAP Staff Contacts at AAC&U

Coordinating Director: Bethany Zecher Sutton
Senior Director for LEAP State Initiatives: Susan Albertine
Advocacy and Public Outreach: Debra Humphreys
Campus Action Network: Alma Clayton-Pedersen
Administrative Assistant: Christina Bell