In July of 2008, the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AACSU) selected a handful of public universities to begin an initiative to promote civic engagement among students, faculty, and wider communities regarding the issues of the national debt and budget deficit issues. Named the America's Future Initiative, the project developed pilot programs on university campuses as part of AASCU's American Democracy Project, an effort to promote civic engagement on America's public university campuses. Moreover, the initiative linked the participating universities to Public Agenda, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization aimed at raising awareness about a number of public policy issues. The universities selected to participate in the America's Future Initiative varied tremendously in terms of geographic location and student enrollment.

This symposium provides a critical review of the efforts of five of the America's Future Initiative campuses to develop curricular and co-curricular activities to educate students and communities. Efforts included interdisciplinary courses, general education assessment projects, campus speakers, and campus workshops, among other activities. Each article offers a unique perspective on the America's Future Initiative.

The first article by Andrew Yarrow of Public Agenda and Cecilia Orphan of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities offers context for the symposium. After quickly outlining America's rising debt and unfunded liabilities, the authors address the causes of the debt and liabilities. Then, the article reviews long-term trends in the debt and short-term deficits, including the effects of the current economic crisis, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and the stimulus funding. The article then discusses the role that educators and nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations play in promoting literacy about the national debt and budget deficit issues. The article concludes with an overview of the America's Future Initiative, the various campuses that have joined the Initiative, and the collaboration between Public Agenda, AASCU, and participating universities in developing curricula and activities to promote fiscal literacy and engage students in the learning process.

Steven Galatas and Cindy Pressley of Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) in Texas examine efforts to embed teaching about the national debt and budget deficit issues in a general education course assessment process. Focusing on an introductory political science course, their goal was to determine students' knowledge base and concern over the debt and deficit issue, and to facilitate lifelong interest in the issue. The article reviews a pilot project conducted in the fall of 2008 that used a pretest/posttest design as well as a critical writing component. Following the pilot project, the fiscal health component was expanded to all sections of the introductory political science course in the spring semester of 2009. The authors focus attention on instructional strategies and goals for reaching the millennial generation, especially given the potential dry or mundane nature of the topic. Lessons learned from the first year of implementing the America's Future Initiative in the general education course are also reviewed.

J. Wesley Martin of Keene State College (KSC) in New Hampshire discusses an interdisciplinary approach of a joint course offered in political science and economics. The course implemented two surprisingly compatible propositions. First, philosophical inquiry into the nature and uses of power is very revealing when it acknowledges Aristotle's distinction between politics and ethics. Through readings of political theory, data and analysis, and course assignments, students learned how the power of a society is marshaled by matters over which people often disagree, and how the consensus of societal values is affected in everyday life. The author finds the analysis of public finance to be most intelligible when paired with the analysis of personal finance. Students find it useful to study revenues, expenditures, and debts at the national level when they match their macroanalysis with the microanalysis of revenues, expenditures, and debts at the personal level.

David J. Plazek of Lyndon State College (LSC) in Vermont evaluates several activities on the university campus. However, he emphasizes two important aspects of LSC's participation. First, the article focuses on the normative aspects of this project, including collegiality of faculty. Contrast is drawn with other features of academic life, such as the nature and tone of research-oriented political science conferences. Second, the paper raises questions about normative projects in the realm of political science, especially the role of professors in public policy advocacy. The discussion explains potential pitfalls with advocacy in general and as they relate to the America's Future Initiative, while simultaneously examining the utility of such efforts.

Rob Catlett of Emporia State University (ESU) in Kansas explains the multidisciplinary approach used on the ESU campus. Although his article places an emphasis on economics courses, virtually everything at ESU can be implemented in a variety of disciplines and courses. The intent was to facilitate understanding, dialogue (both written and oral), and civic action related to deficits and the national debt. Linkages were made between the national debt and budget deficit issues and other civic engagement activities at ESU. A significant aspect of ESU's participation involved an intergenerational dialogue, in which students mostly listened as relatives and friends discussed federal deficits and the national debt; this dialogue helped students gain insight into these problems. Some students then composed critical essays and developed multimedia presentations. The dialogue that followed was surprisingly effective as classmates learned from each other and students around the country. The students also made connections in the community as they sought to share their intellectual and creative talent.

The final article by Jennifer A. Stollman of Fort Lewis College (FLC) in Colorado addresses the importance of encouraging civic engagement in curricular and co-curricular activities. This article explores the innovative methods developed and used by Fort Lewis College's America's Future faculty to promote cross-campus financial and civic literacy. Faculty members created a comprehensive approach to their cross-campus activities within the constraints of the relatively isolated location of Fort Lewis College and the community of Durango, Colorado. This article explores the successful curriculum and campus programming designed and implemented during the 2008–2009 academic year, including lectures, course speakers, campuswide readings, panel discussions, games, workshops, live feeds, public information campaigns, and theater programs. Finally, the article discusses the challenges encountered by program planners and participants and offers strategies for other individuals endeavoring to construct campus programs and projects that relate to civic engagement and financial literacy.