Our Centers for Ethics:

The Ethics of American Youth

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

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 2010 Report Card included some 40,000 students across the nation. Results showed that most young people feel 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 2010 report »

Participation is free for schools in select states

We've already signed up hundreds of schools for the next survey, but yours can still participate for free if you're located in one of these states:

Northeast: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia
(Schools in other states may participate for a fee. Due to demographic considerations, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to include every interested organization in the Report Card. Call 800-711-2670.)

Just for having your students fill out the survey, you will receive a comprehensive and confidential report of your students’ results.

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 send you 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 We publish the national results, but we do not publish the results of any individual school.