Can Character Define the Future of Higher Education?
Wake Forest University is at the forefront of a growing character education movement in U.S. colleges and universities.
In an era when the value of higher education has come under scrutiny, it’s refreshing to see a resurgence in character education at U.S. colleges and universities. According to the Higher Education Research Institute, 85 percent of faculty polled across 140 institutions believe that developing moral character is part of their role. They recognize that building students’ character can support their academic research and that scholars can use qualities such as curiosity and empathy to develop lines of inquiry that will support them in their future careers.
Wake Forest University’s webinar, hosted in partnership with Inside Higher Education in April 2026, looked at Wake Forest’s commitment to character education. Its motto, Pro Humanitate, meaning ‘for humanity’, has guided its culture for decades. This means that producing leaders and citizens of good character is part of its DNA, explained Michael Lamb, senior executive director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest.
The university does this in two ways. Firstly, its research-backed initiative, Program for Leadership and Character, encourages students to explore their character in a context that is relevant to their studies and aspirations. Secondly, supported by more than $70 million from Lilly Endowment Inc., the university guides like-minded schools to develop their own character education programs through its Educating Character Initiative, which now has more than 2,300 members from 800 U.S. institutions and organizations. So far, it has given over $38 million in grants to 200 institutions, and in 2025 reached almost 200,000 faculty, staff and students. It hopes to expand this impact to 1 million by 2030.
Lamb described the current time as a kairos moment for character in higher education—kairos is an ancient Greek word meaning the right, critical or opportune moment. At a point where geopolitical and economic realities are changing all the time, character education can help us to bridge our differences, overcome deep political and social divisions, and encourage us to recognize one another’s humanity. “Character can also support career preparation,” Lamb added. “Many institutions are training students for the workforce, and research shows that employers are hiring for character. They want employees who make good decisions and show good character in the workplace, especially in the age of AI. We also want citizens and leaders who represent these virtues in their community and the wider world.”
The framework for the program centers on seven strategies for developing character that can work for students and faculty alike: habituation through practice; reflection on personal experience; engagement with virtuous exemplars; dialogue to increase virtue literacy; awareness of situational variables and biases; moral reminders; and friendships defined by mutual accountability. At Wake Forest, around 140 faculty members have been trained to embed character education into their own disciplines. “It’s easy to see this as something separate, as a matter of compliance or a box to check off in the curriculum,” explained Lamb. “But leadership and character show up in everything we do.”
An example of this might be in an engineering course where students hear about virtuous exemplars, such as Katherine Johnson, the groundbreaking mathematician who calculated flight paths for space missions at NASA in the early 1960s. This shows the human side of technical calculations as Johnson’s manual calculations were trusted over new computer systems. A class for entrepreneurship students, titled How to Be a Con Artist, has examined the ethics around commercial decisions, looking at cases such as Elizabeth Holmes and her failed Theranos business and the infamous downfall of the Fyre Festival.As well as embedding character education into classroom work, students can engage with discussion groups, retreats and workshops. Topics range from the value of higher education to the ethics of comedy. If students are keen athletes or involved in extracurricular activities such as music or dance, there will still be opportunities to engage in character education. “We recognize that students are busy and over-committed, so we work with our campus partners to meet students where they are,” Lamb said.
A team of researchers has studied the impact of the character courses and programs through focus groups and surveys, using validated scales and control groups to assess student outcomes. In one first-year seminar, Lamb and his team tracked how students demonstrated growth across 16 target virtues such as purpose, temperance, empathy and wisdom. Their research found that students developed in “ways that were significantly different” from their peers who had not participated in the course, showing increases in several virtues. Across the institution, the results of such programs are shared and discussed, with a view to continuous improvement.
“In this moment, character education can help us to address political division, an uncertain economy and the rise of AI. It can show the value of higher education and help us to reclaim education’s fundamentally human purpose.”
Character and leadership education is not a one-size-fits-all solution and will look different depending on a host of factors, from institution to location. Jorge Burmicky, faculty director of the historically Black colleges and universities’ (HBCU) Character and Leadership Education Initiative at Howard University, said character education at Howard was “anchored in the provost’s office” to ensure it was an institution-wide effort rather than a single faculty program. As an HBCU, Howard is harnessing data around how the program has helped students so it can support other HBCUs to launch character education on campus.
“We look at the campus context of character formation,” said Dan Porterfield, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, which launched the Aspen-Kern Program on Leadership and Character in Higher Education in 2024. This brings together new college presidents from public and private undergraduate-serving institutions who are seeking to be more intentional about character education on campus. “Our end goal is to share with one another how we seek to apply or live those values in our everyday life. That alignment of value and action is one definition of integrity,” Porterfield said. With students, character education focuses on aspects of civic character such as dialogue and engagement. “It’s so important to allow students to explore what they might believe, rather than presuming they know,” he added.
In addition to character education for students, Wake Forest runs a dedicated program for university and college leaders: the Leadership and Character Certificate Program. DeRionne Pollard, president and CEO of the American Association of Community Colleges, explained why such a program is important for leaders. “They feel as though they’re at a crucible moment. They’re under intense media scrutiny, it’s a highly political environment, there are challenges with resources and an erosion of public trust,” she said. “The job is outpacing their preparation, their work is isolating and crisis leadership is a constant.” Character education can help leaders understand how to successfully manage change.
Lamb strongly believes that now is a special moment for character development, not just in higher education but in the wider culture. “At a time when higher education is under question, we can cultivate character in ways that do not just prepare future employees but also nurture human beings in a world that is increasingly dehumanized,” he said.
The resurgence of such programs will play a vital role in advancing the mission of higher education in turbulent times. “In this moment, character education can help us to address political division, an uncertain economy and the rise of AI,” Lamb concluded. “It can show the value of higher education and help us to reclaim education’s fundamentally human purpose.”
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This custom content is sponsored by Wake Forest University and developed by Inside Higher Ed's sponsored content team. The editorial staff of Inside Higher Ed had no role in its creation.
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