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.

Upcoming & Recent Events

College Learning for the New Global Century
November 6, 2008
Providence, RI

Virginia Common Wealth Forum
November 18, 2008
University of Richmond

What's New From LEAP

Utah “What Is An Educated Person?” Conference Discusses LEAP Outcomes

Public and private colleges and universities from across the state of Utah gathered November 7th to debate the question, “What is an Educated Person?” AAC&U Vice President Debra Humphreys delivered the keynote address, “College Learning for the New Global Century: Teaching and Assessing What Really Matters Today,” and Utah Commissioner of Higher Education, William Sederburgh, urged participants to help make the case for the value to individuals and the state of sending more high school graduates on to 2- and 4-year colleges. Participants debated what outcomes were most important and how they might best be assessed, especially focusing on the development of electronic portfolios. See news coverage of the event and an op-ed by Utah's Commissioner of Higher Education.

LEAP Initiative Launches Series of Public Forums

AAC&U’s LEAP initiative launches a series of public forums in November with programs in Providence, Rhode Island and Richmond, Virginia. These events will kick off a two-year series of forums designed to engage academics, business leaders, K-12 educators, policymakers, and community leaders with action agendas for moving the LEAP vision for higher education forward with input from and action steps for individuals on campus and beyond. Members of the LEAP National Leadership Council will participate in both events with local and regional leaders. The programs will draw on the innovative work of campuses in Virginia and across New England, and also will call upon key stakeholders to provide leadership for carrying action agendas forward in specific state and regional contexts. Another forum is planned for March 2009, cosponsored with Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and additional forums are slated for 2009 in Miami and other locations around the country.

New LEAP Report by George D. Kuh Presents Latest Research on High-Impact Practices

AAC&U has released a new report for its LEAP initiative. High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter, by George D. Kuh, with an introduction by AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider, defines a set of educational practices and describes research on why they have a strong impact on student success. Kuh presents data from the National Survey of Student Engagement about these practices and why they benefit all students, but also seem to benefit underserved students even more than their more-advantaged peers. The publication also presents data that show definitively that underserved students are the least likely students, on average, to have access to many of these practices. High-Impact Educational Practices is required reading for anyone working to advance changes in curricula and teaching practices and increase students’ achievement of key learning outcomes. Purchase a copy or read an excerpt.

New LEAP Student Brochure

The LEAP initiative has developed a brochure for students, which introduces and explains in clear terms why the outcomes of a liberal education are important and can give them an edge in school, life, and in their future careers. It quotes CEOs who believe a liberal education is central to students' professional success, and features ten questions designed to help students construct a purposeful pathway through college. The brochure is ideal for use in freshman and student transfer orientation, first-year seminars, academic advising for students at all levels, and admissions sessions for college-bound students.

"Liberal Education for Everyone—Transforming Professional and Liberal Arts Programs"

AAC&U President Carol Geary Schneider recently led an audioconference on essential learning outcomes, helping colleges answer these key questions: How can we ensure that all students achieve the essential learning outcomes-whether they major in a traditional liberal arts and sciences field or a professional field? What further changes are needed now to raise the level of achievement for all of today's college students? Download the PowerPoint slides.

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