The National Assessment of Adult Literacy revealed that many college graduates have a limited grasp of arithmetic and critical reading skills after four expensive years of college. Why? Post reporter Daniel de Vise noted that the average college student spends 27 hours a week on academics—about the same as full-day kindergartners. This is not just because students work for income. Think low standards and inflated grades.
Twelve of Virginia’s 15 public universities fail to meet state guidelines for weekly hours of classroom use. Many college classrooms are deserted on Fridays, and the party’s on.
Who is to blame? Fish rot from the head down. How hard would it be for university trustees to direct that as many classes will be scheduled on Friday afternoon as on Tuesday morning? To have tests on Fridays and ratchet back the party culture? How hard would it be to publish the percentage of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s that each instructor gives and to make grading standards an issue in faculty evaluation?
A serious academic culture requires serious leadership. Students deserve no less.
Michael Poliakoff is vice president of policy at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
Boston University has suspended admissions to humanities and social science Ph.D. programs for next year after agreeing to a new graduate student workers union contract with massive pay increases.
ACTA presented our 19th annual Philip Merrill Award for Outstanding Contributions to Liberal Arts Education to Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School and the first female president of the American Civil Liberties Union.
It started in 2017, before which many Purdue graduates went their entire academic career having never set foot in a literature or history class, Dr. Melinda Zook recalls. Now, they all do.
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