Concerns About Diminished Academic Standards in Universities

Students entering college seem to have weaker skills and shorter attention spans than before. Instead of challenging these students with higher expectations, many universities are choosing to lower their standards to fit their needs.

Across the nation, some universities have courses where students only read one book per semester. It’s even happening in Ivy League schools, where remedial math courses are being offered. Additionally, certain institutions focus on teaching students basic skills like how to structure sentences.

It’s evident that universities are facing challenges, as the high school graduates they receive aren’t as prepared as they once were. Lowering academic standards, however, feels like a way to coddle rather than encourage students to reach their full potential.

The reality of university education is that it’s meant to push students intellectually. This isn’t the moment to be overly nurturing.

At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a prominent public university, there’s a three-credit course titled “One Big Book of Value.” This seems to suggest we need to persuade students that reading an entire book is a valuable effort.

The course description states: “This course takes students slowly and carefully through a very long book that is well worth the time and effort.” The essential text is described as “an inexpensive book you’ll never want to sell back.”

Unfortunately, this seems like an obvious assertion that may not resonate with many in Gen Z.

Institutions like Fordham University and Smith College have similar courses under various titles, aiming to bolster students’ close reading skills by breaking long texts into weekly readings.

In the past, students were expected to read substantial works within tight timeframes. Columbia University’s core curriculum used to require students to tackle about 150 pages in a week. Yet, in an era dominated by smartphones and fleeting attention spans, completing one book over an entire semester is celebrated as an accomplishment.

Stuart Roystather, a former professor at Duke University, expressed his worry that schools have long enrolled students who don’t take their education seriously enough. “In any college, there will be a subset of students who are engaged and serious, while others can graduate without ever opening a book.”

Moreover, many schools are offering supplementary courses; Harvard University recently drew attention for its Mathematics Master’s course, designed to provide “additional support” to build foundational skills. This is a school with an acceptance rate of just 4%!

Some universities are introducing basic writing skill courses as well. For example, Fairleigh Dickinson offers a “Fundamentals of Writing” course that aims to cover “college-level reading and writing skills” alongside “standard English conventions.”

An important question arises: when should students begin learning to write and read at a college level? Will they ever get there?

At the University of Nevada, students lacking in “paragraph development, sentence structure, usage, and grammar” have options to take non-credit remediation courses.

This raises a critical issue—how does someone unable to construct sentences write an application essay? Without significant intervention, the expectation of passing college courses seems unrealistic.

Some universities have completely done away with remedial courses, but this isn’t necessarily indicative of progress.

Stephen Mintz, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, argues that schools are admitting students who are not adequately prepared while expecting them to improve on their own. In 2016, nearly 80% of associate degree students at City University of New York took at least one remedial class.

By 2018, the University of California system eliminated non-credit remedial courses, instead allowing students to extend one semester’s worth of content over two semesters to earn credit for learning material they may have already known.

At CUNY, remedial classes were phased out due to overcrowding, which raises the question of whether the standard courses would suffice.

As of 2023, when CUNY discontinued its remedial classes, about 78% of new associate degree students had participated in such courses prior to this change.

It seems that many institutions are diluting educational standards and offering credits for what used to be considered insufficient.

A recent study from the University of California, San Diego highlighted a startling 30-fold increase in the number of students lacking basic math skills over five years.

Mintz emphasized that schools are not just cutting costs—they’re “dismantling the very supports that once helped students meet high standards” by admitting students who aren’t fully prepared.

He warns against lowering standards without providing the necessary assistance to help students achieve them. “The real risk to higher education is institutions failing to be transparent about what is required for college-level work and not investing in the needed structures to help students succeed.”

While the pandemic’s impact on learning is undeniable, universities shouldn’t lower their expectations to match a decline in skills. If educational standards aren’t upheld, students might be allowed to slide into complacency.

If you make things too easy for students, you can risk hindering their ability to learn and grow. Now may be the time to raise those standards and empower Gen Z to realize their full capabilities.