Hillsdale College is famous for several unique elements – that separate it from most higher educational institutions.

First off, it is unabashedly conservative. A position dating back 150 years, you won’t find any “wokeness” on campus – Hillsdale is focused on providing its version of conservative higher education regardless of public pressure.

Next, Hillsdale does not participate in the United States Department of Education Title IV programs. That frees it from significant regulatory oversight by the DOE. It also limits the ability of students to access Federal loans and grants for tuition.

Finally, Hillsdale uses free online courses to attract like-minded individuals to learn about topics ranging from the Bible to Economics. They are presented in bite-sized lectures and taught by the Hillsdale faculty. By signing up for the courses, you also get on the Hillsdale Imprimis mailing list and email list. These serve as fundraising and friend-raising tools to provide additional programs and scholarship funds.

I took the Constitution 101 course and found it fascinating – though designed to support the Hillsdale College conservative perspective. Well presented and researched, the course will expose you to constitutional history and interpretation, providing a perspective on how the country has changed since its founding.

However, the course’s best benefit was the supporting textbook –The U.S. Constitution: A Reader. This book starts with Solon and Aristotle and takes you through a winding path of Western philosophy and American politics to Ronald Reagan and modern perspectives on the Constitution. While the readings are designed to support the school’s conservative positions, it also includes readings from Progressives like Wilson and Roosevelt. It provides a fair bit of “opposing” perspectives as well.

The book, a 700+ page tome, is a heavy read – but one that every constitutional scholar or historian should have on their bookshelf. The path from 2000 BCE to the modern day is not a straight nor easy one – and the challenges from 1786 to 1986 are explored in deep detail with excerpts from primary sources. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a conservative perspective on the Constitution and taking the accompanying two courses on the Constitution offered by Hillsdale.