Our education system is worse than people know

[sanantone]

I've read a couple of studies that suggest that most American college graduates are functionally illiterate. Sometimes, people misread things, but when multiple college-educated people can't understand a basic question, that is concerning. The current panic is over Gen Z, but it's clear that this problem extends to Millennials and Gen X.

I asked, "For those who were searching for online programs 10+ years ago when options were fewer, why didn't you go to a for-profit college?"

People who did choose for-profit colleges answered the question, even though the question was not for them. People who were searching for face-to-face programs answered the question, even though the question was explicitly not for them. 

https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/...n-2006.pdf

https://www.persuasion.community/p/the-a...illiterate

https://fortune.com/2026/01/09/gen-z-col...epardness/

[Jonathan Whatley]

On this forum and the unofficial sister forum, the original poster is never really the owner of the thread. It’s common for responses to branch out into related points.

[sanantone]

On this forum and the unofficial sister forum, the original poster is never really the owner of the thread. It’s common for responses to branch out into related points.

I've been on both forums for a long time. There's a difference between a conversation branching out and initial responses being irrelevant to the OP because people either didn't read the OP or struggled with literacy.

[bluebooger]

I tried to read those artocles, but they were too long.
Anyone want to sum them up for me ?

[NotJoeBiden]

None of these articles say most American college graduates are illiterate.

The first report said that twenty % of graduates are at basic or below literacy levels, well below the average. This report is also twenty years old.

The last two say incoming students don’t read as much and are slower and less confident in doing so based on anecdotes of a few professors at prestigious universities.

[ifomonay]

Lol, so you were basically checking to see if people who went to for-profit colleges remained illiterate, because they didn't understand that they weren't supposed to reply. I don't know why you're after for-profit colleges. They were, by the way, who invented online degrees.

[sanantone]

Lol, so you were basically checking to see if people who went to for-profit colleges remained illiterate, because they didn't understand that they weren't supposed to reply. I don't know why you're after for-profit colleges. They were, by the way, who invented online degrees.

Um...no. As clearly stated in the OP, the question was directed at people who did not attend for-profit colleges. Also, while University of Phoenix is credited with offering the first fully online degree, a public university offered the first online classes, and The New School offered the first degree by computer conferencing.

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None of these articles say most American college graduates are illiterate.

The first report said that twenty % of graduates are at basic or below literacy levels, well below the average. This report is also twenty years old.

The last two say incoming students don’t read as much and are slower and less confident in doing so based on anecdotes of a few professors at prestigious universities.

Functionally illiterate and illiterate are not the same thing. I wrote "functionally illiterate," and my post went into how the focus is on Gen Z, but the issue is apparent among Millennials and Gen X. Who was in college in 2006?

[NotJoeBiden]

Functionally illiterate and illiterate are not the same thing. I wrote "functionally illiterate," and my post went into how the focus is on Gen Z, but the issue is apparent among Millennials and Gen X. Who was in college in 2006?

Can you define the criteria you are using to classify those functionally illiterate then? I feel like you are moving goal posts here.

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They were, by the way, who invented online degrees.

Anyone here who went to college before then internet, especially those who served can verify the use of distance education from public institutions long before UoP via correspondence and other methodologies.

[sanantone]

Functionally illiterate and illiterate are not the same thing. I wrote "functionally illiterate," and my post went into how the focus is on Gen Z, but the issue is apparent among Millennials and Gen X. Who was in college in 2006?

Can you define the criteria you are using to classify those functionally illiterate then? I feel like you are moving goal posts here.

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How? Functionally illiterate is in the OP. The goal post hasn't moved, at all. In the 2006 report, most college students nearing graduation were not proficient in document literacy.

[NotJoeBiden]

Functionally illiterate and illiterate are not the same thing. I wrote "functionally illiterate," and my post went into how the focus is on Gen Z, but the issue is apparent among Millennials and Gen X. Who was in college in 2006?

Can you define the criteria you are using to classify those functionally illiterate then? I feel like you are moving goal posts here.

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How? Functionally illiterate is in the OP. The goal post hasn't moved, at all. In the 2006 report, most college students nearing graduation were not proficient in document literacy.

Most college graduates were proficient in documented literacy based on the reports you present. That is objective.