Only One State Can Pass the U.S. Citizenship Test

Citizenship tests, it seems, are hard for immigrants and U.S. citizens alike. According to a survey done by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, there was only one state in the Union where more than 50 percent of citizens could pass such a test – Vermont. Other states that did well were Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana and Virginia. Only ten states could demonstrate a basic understanding of U.S. history, according to the foundation.

Woodrow Wilson and other former presidents are probably turning in their graves given the dismal results. Only about half the states (and Washington D.C.) had more than 40 percent of citizens pass. On a national average, only four in ten Americans passed the citizenship test.

The Foundation questioned 41,000 people for their survey. The citizenship test asks, for example, for the year the U.S. Constitution was written (15 percent of all Americans knew the answer), for the number of amendments to the U.S. Constitution (25 percent got that right) and under which amendment freedom of speech was guaranteed (75 percent passed this question).