The Ethics of American Youth


A report card on students’ values, attitudes, and behavior

What kind of example do you set?
Take our survey for adults »


Every two years, Josephson Institute conducts a comprehensive survey of high school students across the country. This survey, called the Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth, measures their self-reported values, attitudes, and behavior.

The 2008 Report Card included nearly 30,000 students across the nation. Results showed that young people are almost unanimous in saying that ethics and character are important on both a personal level and in business, but they express very cynical attitudes about whether a person can be ethical and succeed. Moreover, an alarming number of students admitted to recently lying, cheating, and stealing. Read the 2008 report »

Your school can participate for free

We’re signing up schools for the 2010 survey. Just for having your students fill out the survey, you will receive a comprehensive and confidential report of your students’ results.

sign up now

Participation is easy

You let us know you’d like to take part and tell us how many students you have.* We mail you the survey forms, which your students can fill out in 20 minutes. You send the surveys back to us, using pre-paid mailing labels we provide. We scan the surveys and mail you a detailed report of your students` results side-by-side with the national figures. That’s it!

Confidentiality is ensured

This survey is a great way to better understand the values, attitudes, and behaviors of your students. You will be able to identify areas where your students are doing well and areas that need your attention. We publish the national results, but we do not publish the results of any individual school.