Many states, including Texas, still require two semesters of U.S. history as part of an undergraduate education.  (Texas also requires a full semester of either Texas history or Texas government.) Higher education accrediting agencies (for Texas, that would be the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools) set minimum standards / expectations for what these required courses will entail.  Various public higher education systems maintain their own curricular standards at the institutional and departmental level, standards designed to address all these requirements as well as any other concerns or priorities of the faculty or the university in question. These institutional standards Read more