The report, which evaluates the core academic requirements at over 1,100 public and private universities, has been published annually since 2009.
[2][3] The report assigns a letter grade to over 1,100 universities based on how many of the following seven core subjects are required: composition, literature, foreign language, American history, economics, mathematics and science.
[9][10] Regent University, which received an "A" grade from ACTA, was subsequently awarded $400,000 by the Beazley Foundation in recognition of the school's strong core curriculum.
[12] The 2013–2014 edition included the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's campus free speech "Spotlight" rating alongside the What Will They Learn?
[18] The 2018–19 edition marked the 10th anniversary of the study, which analyzed 1,120 institutions of higher learning and assigned 23 “A” grades.
The study has been featured in The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and newspapers across the United States.
"[23] In response to the strong performance of historically black colleges and universities, Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund, said "the ACTA review’s finding that historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) ‘demonstrate overall stronger general education requirements than other public and private institutions’ confirms the important role these universities continue to play in American higher education.
The study found that 70 percent of Americans agreed with ACTA that all students should be required to take core curriculum classes.
That number jumped to 80 percent among 25- to 34-year-olds who, according to the survey, are those "just out of college who may find learnings from such classes are helpful in the job market.