Many passionate and motivated students around the world have contacted us about starting DeCal-like programs at their own universities. Some student-initiated programs have been around for a while, some have just gotten started, and some are still on the drawing board.
If you think your university could use a democratic education program, feel free to contact us for consultation. It’s not as difficult as you might think. In the meantime, read up on how it’s going at other universities.
UC Davis , as of April 2014, has a Program similar to DeCal starting in spring quarter. It is currently pending for Vice Provost approval.
UC Irvine has UTeach, “where advanced UCI undergraduates propose, develop and teach their own seminar classes.”
UCLA has a Undergraduate Student Initiated Education (USIE) program which finished a two year pilot period and was made official in 2007. Students who wish to be a facilitator need to enter a competition to be accepted!
UC Santa Barbara showcases democratic education through its Education for a Sustainable Living Program (ESLP). They are working on making their courses more accessible for the general student body.
UC Santa Cruz also has a chapter of the Education for a Sustainable Living Program (ESLP). The student organization offers an accredited student led course every spring semester, covering sustainable living topics. The class focuses on hands-on projects and experiential learning and it has two components: a Monday Night Speaker Series and student-led sections.
Oberlin College has Experimental College (ExCo) with about 60-90 courses on average per semester. There is an open student committee with a faculty advisor that provide guidance for administrative or bureaucratic issues.
Stanford University has Student Initiated Courses, started by the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)
Tufts University has an Experimental College administered jointly by students and faculty members.
Carnegie Mellon University has a Student College (StuCo) founded in 2001, which offers entirely student-run classes and a student-run advisory committee.
University of Virginia has Cavalier Education: Student Initiated Courses at UVa (CavEd) which was founded in 2006 and is run by the Student Council.
University of Texas at Austin has Democratic Education at Texas (DemTex) which was founded in 2005. It is a program sponsored by the Senate of College Councils, the School of Undergraduate Studies, and the Center for Teaching and Learning and they currently offer around 3 to 4 courses per semester.
Rice University has a Student Taught Courses program. Much like DeCals, the courses offer ‘non-traditional’ curriculum. Students can take the classes for 1 credit hour on satisfactory/non-satisfactory scale.