2008 Woodie Awards
College students are lacking basic skills, report finds
Katherine J. White
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
According to a recent literacy study, Johnny still can't read, at least not very well, but he's also attending and even preparing to graduate from college.
Johnny is also about to graduate from college with an inability to balance a checkbook, and he can't make a proper judgment call about credit card offers because he doesn't understand the different interest rates and annual fees.
According to a recently reported study, Johnny is part of a legion of American college students who suffer several different academic shortcomings.
The recent study found that only about 30 percent of two-year students have barely minimum math skills, according to a recent study funded by Pew Charitable Trusts.
According to this study, more than half of the student populations of four-year institutions and approximately 75 percent of student populations in two-year institutions cannot comprehend credit card offers.
The study further claimed that most college students lacked the ability to comprehend important documents and evaluate news articles.
Many college students are bereft of the math skills required not only to balance checkbooks but also to make restaurant tips.
The study points out that students cannot decipher tables about exercise and blood pressure, or grasp the rhetoric of newspaper editorials or insightfully recite the results of surveys. However, some students are modestly adept at finding locations on maps, the survey stated.
Stephane Baldi, the literacy study's director at the American Institutes for Research, stated to CNN that "it is kind of disturbing that a lot of folks are graduating with degrees and they're not going to be able to do those things."
Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public and Higher Education, told CNN that the "states have no idea about the knowledge and skills of their college graduates."
To add to the dismal picture, the study reportedly elaborated that only 20 percent of students aiming for the four-year degree had only minimal calibrating and quantitative abilities.
Johnny is also about to graduate from college with an inability to balance a checkbook, and he can't make a proper judgment call about credit card offers because he doesn't understand the different interest rates and annual fees.
According to a recently reported study, Johnny is part of a legion of American college students who suffer several different academic shortcomings.
The recent study found that only about 30 percent of two-year students have barely minimum math skills, according to a recent study funded by Pew Charitable Trusts.
According to this study, more than half of the student populations of four-year institutions and approximately 75 percent of student populations in two-year institutions cannot comprehend credit card offers.
The study further claimed that most college students lacked the ability to comprehend important documents and evaluate news articles.
Many college students are bereft of the math skills required not only to balance checkbooks but also to make restaurant tips.
The study points out that students cannot decipher tables about exercise and blood pressure, or grasp the rhetoric of newspaper editorials or insightfully recite the results of surveys. However, some students are modestly adept at finding locations on maps, the survey stated.
Stephane Baldi, the literacy study's director at the American Institutes for Research, stated to CNN that "it is kind of disturbing that a lot of folks are graduating with degrees and they're not going to be able to do those things."
Joni Finney, vice president of the National Center for Public and Higher Education, told CNN that the "states have no idea about the knowledge and skills of their college graduates."
To add to the dismal picture, the study reportedly elaborated that only 20 percent of students aiming for the four-year degree had only minimal calibrating and quantitative abilities.