College Learning for the New Global Century: A Report from the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education And America’s Promise. Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2007. ISBN: 9780977921041. Pages: 62 (online version). The LEAP (Liberal Education and America’s Promise) National Leadership Council, an initiative of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, has produced a report that claims current American higher education doesn’t meet contemporary demands and realities. It redefines the often elusive concept of ‘liberal’ education in the US, disputing the idea that liberal education is only achieved through arts and science disciplines. Focusing on student ‘learning outcomes’ as opposed to simply degree attainment, the authors of this paper challenge the public silence that around the poor performance of American graduates and push for a greater access to what they call ‘liberal education outcomes’. Amongst the recommendations of this paper are the following:

• national commitment should be made to foster aims and outcomes of a twenty-first century liberal education for all college students, not just those attending elite institutions and not just those studying in what traditionally have been called ‘arts and science’ disciplines;
• goals should be set for educational accomplishment that target real learning outcomes and not just ‘filling credits’;
• inquiry and innovation should be taught with an emphasis on ‘inquiry-based learning’;
• universities should work with schools to raise the level of inquiry and project-based learning in precollegiate education;

• students should be prepared for both citizenship and work through ‘real world’ problems.

LEAPReport