Take the American History and Civics Test

Much has been made about Australia’s citizenship test that features questions about Australian history and civics.  This just begs the question of how well Americans would do taking the same type of test.  As this studies shows it is a good thing America does not have such a test because we would have to deport just about everyone:

In fall 2005, researchers at the University of Connecticut’s Department of Public Policy (UConnDPP), commissioned by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s (ISI) National Civic Literacy Board, conducted a survey of some 14,000 freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities. Students were asked 60 multiple-choice questions to measure their knowledge in four subject areas: America’s history, government, international relations, and market economy. The disappointing results were published by ISI in fall 2006 in The Coming Crisis in Citizenship: Higher Education’s Failure to Teach America’s History and Institutions. Seniors, on average, failed all four subjects, and their overall average score was 53.2%. [Civic Literacy Report]

Make sure you read the entire link because the findings are astounding.  Harvard University showed their eliteness by having their seniors score the highest on the test by barely passing with a D+ average of 69.6%.  You can take the test yourself and see how you compare to America’s so called academic elite at Harvard.  Just for the record I scored a 86.66%.  So I would qualify to be an American and I did it without a Harvard education.