AU one of seven schools offering an undergraduate classical education program, according to report

ASHLAND, Ohio – Ashland University was noted as one of just seven schools in the nation that is home to an undergraduate classical education program in a report published earlier this month by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI).

The overriding theme of the piece, “The Achilles’ Heel of Classical Education,” was that classical schools are growing—1,551 were operating in the U.S. during 2023-24 and nearly one-third of them opened over the past decade—but there are not enough teachers trained for that sector.

Due to a demand for the return of a broad- and virtues-based education, classical schools (and many parents) are seeking teachers who are “intellectually serious, well-versed in the great books, morally grounded and pedagogically effective in techniques such as explicit instruction,” according to the authors of the report.

Classical education, in essence, is “students learning how to learn and to love learning,” says Joe Griffith, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and political science at AU.

Griffith goes on to explain, “It lays the foundation for holistic and lifelong learning by recovering the tools of learning. Sometimes called the trivium, the sequence includes grammar or the art of understanding the structure of language, logic or the art of thinking, and rhetoric or the art of communicating persuasively and elegantly. In addition, classical education introduces students to the great books, encourages them to consider the permanent questions of life and trains them to think, speak and write clearly.”

AU is one of just a few responding to the demand, having launched a classical learning minor in the fall of 2024. It is the only such program in the state of Ohio, and the goal is to equip students with the tools to foster critical thinking, moral formation and civic engagement in today’s classrooms.

“Students in AU’s new classical learning minor are combining subject-area expertise in their major field, such as biology, art or philosophy, with hands-on experience teaching seminar-style classes, along with gaining a familiarity with Latin and a broader understanding of the history and purposes of classical learning,” stated Griffith.

The AEI is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential and building a freer and safer world. The work of its scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in a belief of democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.