Results from a recent survey conducted by the American Institutes of Research show that 20 percent of college graduates lack the skills necessary to figure out if they have enough fuel to get to the next gas station or summarize the argument made in a newspaper editorial.
Though an estimated one-fifth of college graduates are only quantitatively literate on a basic level, or have the ability to do the simple arithmetic necessary to compare movie ticket prices or the cost of a sandwich and a salad, this number is not larger than that of previous generations.
“Despite the lackluster performance of many graduates on quantitative literacy, we should nevertheless be encouraged that current college graduates are not falling behind in terms of literacy when compared to graduates from earlier generations,” said Emerson Elliott, a former Commissioner of Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education, in a release from the institutes.
Yes, that is promising that college graduates are not dumber now than they were 20 years ago; we are releasing an equally ignorant populace into the work force.
No, on the contrary, it is disturbing that colleges and universities have not tried to do more to create well-rounded and capable students.
Some might say that all a university is responsible for is giving the person the skills necessary to do a job competently when they are finished; do that, and the schooling has been a success.
That is, in fact, the job of trade schools, technical schools and professional schools. The job of a liberal-arts college is to create a complete individual, someone who is not only competent in the work force but is also productive in all aspects of life. If this is not the goal of such institutions, then what is the point of the general education curriculum and the like?
University administrators should be appalled at the fact that so many students go out into the world every year lacking the skills to be a productive member of society. If colleges wish to keep calling themselves “liberal arts,” then they should strive to turn out people who are literate in all aspects of life.
