Title: Educating Citizens: Preparing America’s Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility
Authors: Anne Colby, Thomas Ehrlich, Elizabeth Beaumont, Jason Stephens
Target Audience: Faculty
Date: 2003

Succinct Summary: In this book, universities and colleges are challenged to teach students civic responsibility and participation. Along with a collection of studies of approaches taken by a dozen schools, the authors recommend changes that schools can make to lead their students to lives of active citizenship.

Reviewer quotes:

1. “The volume benefits from the authors collective scholarship and wisdom on the development of moral-civic identity in the late adolescence/young adulthood and the historical role and contemporary challenges of colleges and universities in the democratic project in the United States. In particular, Colby and colleagues summarize the competencies students in the twenty-first century need if they are to exercise responsibility and leadership in their vocational, personal, and civic lives.”
   – Constance Flanagan in the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement
   
2. “[The authors] are troubled that higher education institutions by and large have ignored their moral and civic goals. They are particularly disillusioned that academic cheating is increasing and there is less interest among youth in voting and political participation. They critically examine the historic underpinnings of pedagogical practices that are traditionally rewarded in academia and the rigidity of an educational system grounded in specialization and devoid of much connection with the realities of life… Colby et al. call for change in precisely those approaches that lull faculty into believing they are adequately doing their job of serving students.”
   -Priya Kapoor and Dilafruz R. Williams in the Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
3. “Through a grand tour of American higher education, Educating Citizens shows how institutions can equip students with the understanding, motivation, and skills of responsible and effective citizenship. The book includes rich examples from in-depth studies at twelve institutions and from a wide range of effective programs and approaches on other campuses. The authors’ guidelines for implementing these programs can be applied in the full range of higher education institutions. Educating Citizens is essential reading for all who believe that higher education can play a critical role in the health of American democracy by helping students become responsible citizens of the nation, the world and their own communities.”- Carnegie Foundation Studies in Higher Education