Posted on 12/03/2025 6:29:09 AM PST by DFG
The number of Gen Z college freshmen who are entering universities without high school math skills is skyrocketing — as SAT scores are plummeting, a stunning new report has found.
Even more shocking — many of the students can’t even do middle-school level math, meaning their skills are fifth grade or below.
Experts say this phenomenon, combined with steadily rising high school graduate rates, show that the country is suffering a massive grade inflation problem.
The University of California San Diego, for instance, has reported a staggering 30-fold increase in the number of students unable to do basic arithmetic over the last five years.
“A lot of data in education is subject to manipulation. You can raise graduation rates. You can give a kid a grade he or she may not really have earned,” said Robert Pondiscio, a senior fellow and education expert with the American Enterprise Institute.
“You can literally declare a kid a graduate.”
“The incentives are in the system to make ourselves look good,” he told The Post. “High GPA, high graduation rate, etcetera — when it’s a mirage.”
The UC San Diego example is particularly stark. Just 30 of the school’s incoming freshmen had below high school level math skills in 2020. But in 2025 that number rose to 900, the Atlantic reported, citing a shocking November study released by faculty.
That’s one in eight incoming freshmen who are unable to meet basic high school math standards — for a school that takes just 30% of applicants.
All of the students also have to have passing grades in high school math curriculum required by the University of California school system.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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I was in grade school in the 60s and that was when our school system shifted to "New Math."
My class was doing great until New Math started and it confused us all. I went from straight As to nearly flunking. Our teacher, an older lady, told the Principle she was going back to the good mathematics. Our math grades shot up again.
A fair number of public schools in well-to-do areas are the opposite of this… offering classes that were not available in my youth unless you attended a community college after school. On-site dual enrollment (taught by a community college instructor at the high school) is sometimes offered when the demand exists to support such. If the parents demand it and push for it, districts in these areas often buck the national K-12 trend. The problem is that with holistic and test-blind admissions, many colleges view this as privilege rather than preparation; students are penalized if they do NOT take advantage of the opportunity and also if they get a B in the course (since GPA is lowered).
It’s not just math. They have no initiative, memory, basic sense of conscientiousness, understanding of world and national history and timelines, vocabulary, ability to read other than simple texts, interest in reading or learning in general.
It is appalling, and most Americans are completely unaware of it.
I’m guessing this may mean that future employers of high school & college students may have to give their own “school” tests. That might slow down some of this race to the mediocre.
Great point.
We did get a message in 2021 to wait till 2024 because the mandates are as strong as they’ve ever been to really obliterate and drain.
2026 is coming up quick and incomplete grades will not motivate voters who’ve been waiting since 2021 to see actual heads rolling and the DC Swamp defeated.
The wait in 2021 for 2024 to avoid having everyone killing each other over a stolen election..
The call wasn’t to wait till 2026 or 2028.
I hope they understand that
My test scores were terrible and no reflection of my ability. The day we had SAT/ACT testing, I was constantly running to the restroom to vomit due to one of my medications and impending kidney failure, so I couldn’t concentrate and was exhausted. I didn’t get a retest. I missed fully half of high school due to deteriorating health, and this was long before remote learning. My GPA barely breached 1 by graduation. I look like a terrible candidate, but when I was actually present for class, I was typically 3 chapters ahead in math and was helping fellow students with english class essays at my teacher’s request.
Perhaps now is the time for me to apply for medical school for sh¡ts and giggles.
Sounds like a plan
“I was in grade school in the 60s and that was when our school system shifted to “New Math.”
Our teachers stayed with the new math and we struggled for years.
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