Study of American Democracy on Cal State Chopping Block

Historians across the California State University System are voicing concerns about a new general education task force report that recommends halving the six-credit U.S. history and government requirement in place on most campuses.

The university system says it hasn’t even formally received the faculty-led report yet and that it remains a mere set of ideas.

Still, some professors worry that Cal State’s six-credit requirement has long been a target for those who see it as a barrier to completion.

“Students here do a lot of work in U.S. history and government -- it’s a rigorous course of study, and we stand to lose that right now,” said Bridget Ford, professor of history at Cal State’s East Bay campus and a critic of the general education task force report. “We’re worried about what democracy in our state will look like without it.”

Cal State's 23 campuses enroll hundreds of thousands of students, many of whom are first-generation college students and Americans. And California Civil Code requires that Cal State students "acquire knowledge and skills that will help them to comprehend the workings of American democracy and of the society in which they live," to "enable them to contribute to that society as responsible and constructive citizens."