Civics courses are a source of civic skill development, yet not all American students receive civics instruction. This fact sheet reports evidence on the effect of civic education on the civic skill levels of young people. It uses "average treatment effects" to report the effects of studying various civics topics on civic skills. Civic skills included in the study are: cognitive skills, communication skills, group discussion skills, and news monitoring skills. Findings indicate that studying civics topics increases the frequency that young people will discuss political topics with parents, peers, and teachers. Additionally, the author finds differing effects on civic skills for subgroups of young people when broken down by race and gender. (Contains 3 graphs and 8 endnotes.) [Research for this fact sheet comes from the author's Ph.D. Dissertation, "Civic Skills and Civic Education: An Empirical Assessment," University of Maryland School of Public Policy, 2005. The fact sheet was produced by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE).]