No Gain, No Pain: For One in Three, College Doesn't Help"We got college men from LSU, went in dumb, come out dumb, too." Randy Newman made no friends at Louisiana State University with that line from his 1974 song, "Rednecks." But if it's any comfort to the Bayou Bengals, a new study of American college students says that after four years, 36 percent show no significant gains in learning. After two years, 45 percent show no significant gains. "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses," surveyed more than 3,000 students at 29 colleges and universities and studied results on standardized tests.
Half said that in a typical semester, they never wrote a paper longer than 20 pages. Nearly a third said that in a typical semester, they never read more than 40 pages a week. The big reason for all of this, the study said, is that colleges don't make academics a priority. Instructors are more focused on their own research and careers, and students are more focused on their social lives. "Shocking" and "disturbing" said the study's lead author. If he's shocked and disturbed, think of the parents who are laying out all that tuition money. REPRINTED FROM THE ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH DISTRIBUTED BY CREATORS.COM
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