Florida State University’s Institute for Governance and Civics announced on March 19 the launch of a new undergraduate degree in Civics and Liberty Studies, an interdisciplinary program aimed at preparing students to become civic leaders who are informed by data and ethical principles. Enrollment is now open for the Fall semester.
The introduction of this program comes at a time when civic knowledge is reportedly declining, while public discourse faces increasing challenges. The university said the new degree will help address these issues by equipping students with both foundational knowledge in constitutional thought and practical skills in statistics, survey research, public opinion, and public policy.
Ryan Owens, director of the Institute for Governance and Civics, said, “Civic knowledge is collapsing at the very moment our public discourse feels most fragile. The Civics and Liberty Studies degree is one way Florida State University is rebuilding civic literacy and preparing the next generation of thoughtful, effective citizens and responsible leaders. It is designed to marry the big ideas of American liberty with the technical and analytical skills today’s leaders need.”
The curriculum includes 27 credits of core coursework along with 18 credits in one of four concentrations: constitutional liberty, economic liberty, conscience liberty, or educational liberty. Courses cover topics such as civil discourse, constitutional law, political philosophy, economics, applied statistics, and culminate in an American civics research seminar.
“Students shouldn’t have to choose between studying great ideas and gaining real‑world skills,” Owens said. “The Civics and Liberty Studies program brings those together by pairing the intellectual grounding of the liberal arts with the data and analytical tools students need to lead in today’s civic and professional environments.”
The Institute for Governance and Civics was established in 2023 at Florida State University to promote constitutional liberty through research, teaching excellence, and diverse intellectual exchange.
