College professors across the country are reporting a significant increase in students arriving on campus unable to perform basic reading comprehension tasks, according to faculty members and education researchers. The trend, which predates the COVID-19 pandemic but has accelerated since, has prompted debate over whether institutions of higher learning should be

John Mac Ghlionn, a writer and researcher who studies technology's impact on society, argued in an opinion piece for The Hill that American classrooms have seen reading and math scores declining for more than a decade. He writes that professors report freshmen who 'cannot read basic sentences, let alone finish books' and struggle to follow arguments from beginning to end.

What the Right Is Saying

Conservative critics of current education policy say the literacy decline reflects lowered academic standards and grade inflation that have made passing too easy. They argue that colleges bear responsibility for admitting students who lack basic competencies, and that accreditation standards need reform.

Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has pushed for greater transparency in college admissions about student preparedness rates. 'Colleges that accept federal financial aid should be required to disclose what percentage of their students need remedial coursework,' Cassidy wrote in a recent policy brief.

The American Enterprise Institute's Center on Education Policy has argued that teacher preparation programs have de-emphasized phonics-based reading instruction in favor of balanced literacy approaches that research suggests are less effective for foundational skills. Senior Fellow Michael J. Petrilli wrote that 'the reading wars of the 1990s were settled by consensus, but that consensus was wrong.'

Conservative commentators and parents' rights advocates have also raised concerns about smartphone use and social media platforms contributing to shortened attention spans among young people. They argue for greater limits on device use in schools and more emphasis on traditional reading assignments.

What the Left Is Saying

Progressive educators and Democratic-aligned policy analysts say the literacy crisis reflects systemic underinvestment in public education and inequitable resource distribution. They point to decades of funding disparities between wealthy and low-income school districts as a root cause, arguing that students arriving at college unprepared are often those who attended chronically underfunded K-12 schools.

Senator Patty Murray of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has championed increased funding for Title I programs that serve high-poverty schools. Her office pointed to data showing that students in well-resourced schools score an average of 40 percent higher on reading assessments than those in high-poverty districts.

The American Federation of Teachers has called for reduced standardized testing emphasis and more investment in early literacy interventions. Union President Randi Weingarten argued that 'holding schools accountable for test scores without providing the resources to teach reading effectively' creates perverse incentives that harm students most in need of support.

Progressive commentators have also pointed to AI tools as a potential solution, arguing that intelligent tutoring systems and reading assistance apps could help close gaps for students who lacked access to quality instruction earlier in their education.

What the Numbers Show

The National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation's Report Card, shows average fourth-grade reading scores dropped 5 points between 2019 and 2022, the largest decline since consistent tracking began. Eighth-grade reading scores fell 3 points over the same period.

Data from the College Board indicates that in 2024, approximately 43 percent of SAT test-takers met benchmarks indicating readiness for college-level work in both reading and math, down from 47 percent in 2019. Among students from households earning less than $50,000 annually, only 29 percent met dual benchmarks.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the percentage of first-year college students enrolled in at least one remedial course rose to 33 percent in fall 2023, up from 29 percent a decade earlier. Remedial math enrollment increased more sharply than reading or writing remediation.

Research on cognitive performance trends shows that IQ scores, which rose consistently throughout the 20th century in what researchers termed the Flynn effect, have begun declining in multiple countries including the United States, Denmark, and Finland. A 2024 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found verbal and spatial reasoning scores among young adults dropping by an average of 2 to 3 points per decade since 2006.

The Bottom Line

The gap between college admission standards and student preparation has become a growing concern for institutions facing pressure to maintain enrollment while ensuring degree value. Several universities have launched summer bridge programs aimed at bringing underprepared students up to speed, though critics argue such remediation merely postpones addressing root causes in K-12 education.

Policymakers are considering legislation that would tie some federal financial aid eligibility to institutional outcomes for student preparedness. The debate over whether colleges should serve as finishing schools for skills not acquired earlier, or whether admission standards need tightening, is likely to intensify as more data on student readiness gaps becomes available.

Education researchers broadly agree that the trend reflects multiple factors including pandemic learning disruptions, changing classroom technologies, and shifts in how young people spend leisure time. What remains contested is which interventions would most effectively reverse the decline, and who bears responsibility for implementing them.