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UC San Diego: Incoming Students Can't Do Basic Math
Hot Air ^ | November 12, 2025 | DAVID STROM

Posted on 11/13/2025 6:56:35 AM PST by Mr. Mojo

Math professors are ringing alarm bells about the rapid and disastrous decline in students' ability to do even basic math.

Almost 15% of incoming students cannot perform math at the 1st-grade level, and fewer than one out of five can perform math at the 8th-grade level.

These are college students at a fairly prestigious university, many of whom have achieved very good grades in math prior to graduation. They have been awarded good to great grades without being able to do the most basic math.

We're not talking about students having trouble dealing with calculus or Algebra II. Many students cannot do basic addition and subtraction, and only 54% of incoming students can do 5th-grade math. It's gotten to the point where professors in the STEM fields are overwhelmed and unable to provide college-level courses to students in...college.

The situation was awful before COVID, but it has rapidly deteriorated since. Students have not only failed to catch up to the poor level of achievement they displayed prior to the pandemic, but they continue to decline in ability.

Imagine the situation: a prestigious college is now having to teach nearly 20% of its students how to do 1st grade math, and about half need instruction to exceed the 5th-grade level. Only one out of five has even attained high-school level math literacy.

No doubt that Democrats will blame funding, because they always blame funding. But the simple fact is that the public education establishment has been performing child sacrifice on the altar of woke ideology, ingesting gobs of money that gets dumped into salaries, employing teachers with little to no skills in their disciplines or in teaching, and has been lying to students and parents about how well students are doing.

(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: dumbingdown
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1 posted on 11/13/2025 6:56:35 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: Mr. Mojo

The why is UC SD accepting them as students?


2 posted on 11/13/2025 6:58:44 AM PST by albie
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To: Mr. Mojo

I once won a contest on a flight to Hawaii by calculating the landing time. The pilot gave us departure time, speed and milage. The gal sitting next to me thought I was Einstein.


3 posted on 11/13/2025 7:01:15 AM PST by DeplorablePaul
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To: albie
The why is UC SD accepting them as students?

Money.

Of course, employers are steering away from people with no skills or knowledge. The employers won't accept these people either with a college degree or without. And again, the reason is Money.

We need to radically re-think education is this country.

4 posted on 11/13/2025 7:02:21 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats seek power through cheating and assassination. They are sociopaths. They just want power.)
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To: Mr. Mojo

This is why they believe Socialism works.


5 posted on 11/13/2025 7:02:26 AM PST by FatherofFive (We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor)
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To: albie

Indeed!

Years back, when I was hiring recent college grads (and others), one of my interview questions was “Please express the fraction 4/5 as a percentage”. I’d say only around 1/3 of the people could do it. Some had no idea what I was talking about. This is 5th/6th grade math.


6 posted on 11/13/2025 7:02:54 AM PST by drwoof
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To: Mr. Mojo

They can’t read and they can’t math. But they can woke.


7 posted on 11/13/2025 7:04:23 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: DeplorablePaul

I once took the teachers math competency test for North Carolina. They were allowed an hour to take it and only had to get 50% correct. I aced it in 7 minutes. I too, was Einstein.


8 posted on 11/13/2025 7:04:47 AM PST by FrogMom (Time marches on....)
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To: Mr. Mojo

They can’t read or write, either.......... But they feel good about themselves!...........


9 posted on 11/13/2025 7:05:10 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Mr. Mojo

And these are the types of students that love communism and become DemocRATz.


10 posted on 11/13/2025 7:05:37 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: albie

Good question. Is math on the SAT? Oh wait, they aren’t doing SATs any more, are they, because SATs are racist.


11 posted on 11/13/2025 7:07:48 AM PST by FrogMom (Time marches on....)
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To: albie

The why is UC SD accepting them as students?


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$


12 posted on 11/13/2025 7:07:49 AM PST by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Get rid of teachers unions, have professional proficiency tests for teachers, no blue hair freaks allowed and no trannys............


13 posted on 11/13/2025 7:08:06 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Mr. Mojo

When I was a kid 1+1=2, now it seems in schools 1+1=transgender.


14 posted on 11/13/2025 7:12:21 AM PST by DallasBiff (Apology not accepted.la is not the sharpest knife in the drawer)
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To: Red Badger
professional proficiency tests for teachers

In MA you cannot be a government school teacher without a Masters degree in Education. What that means -- at best -- is that you know how to build a lesson plan and how to manage a classroom. In reality, it means you are thoroughly indoctrinated in all the right things so that you can indoctrinate others.

But at no point (as far as I can tell) is there any training to ensure that Math teachers understand Math, History teachers understand History or that English teachers understand grammar or enjoy literature. Professional proficiency? Subject Matter Expertise? It just doesn't seem to be important.

15 posted on 11/13/2025 7:13:21 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Democrats seek power through cheating and assassination. They are sociopaths. They just want power.)
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To: albie

THAT is the real question, and here’s the answer!

You have to be in the top 8% of your high school graduating class in California to be accepted into a UC automatically.

But not necessarily into any major. Engineering majors are hyper competitive...supposedly.

And Prop 209 says they can’t use race for admissions decisions.

BUT!

They CAN use “First Generation” as a metric, and they do! In fact, the UC system brags about it!

https://search.brave.com/search?q=university+of+california+first+generation+admission&summary=1&conversation=ed1035a55fd95f1bef1a6b

See that? FORTY TWO PER CENT of their admits are “First Generation”.

How is that possible in a state like California where 30-40% of the population has a degree in something?!

Simple!

The illegal alien children, whose parents are from dusty turd world villages in Mexico and points south, are the lucky beneficiaries!

Technically they aren’t violating Prop. 209...but of course, First Generation is a proxy for “non White”.

UCSD also goes further on a lot of fronts but I won’t waste your time with it other then to say it should just be called UCTJ...which is the populace and country they think they serve.

UCSD collects state taxpayer money and federal taxpayer money to ruthlessly discriminate against the very people who generate and pay those taxes.


16 posted on 11/13/2025 7:13:31 AM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: DallasBiff

When I was a kid 1+1=2,


But by now, that answer just ain’t two


17 posted on 11/13/2025 7:13:59 AM PST by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: ClearCase_guy

Big time.


18 posted on 11/13/2025 7:15:41 AM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: FatherofFive

Parenting definitely plays a role here.


19 posted on 11/13/2025 7:16:29 AM PST by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Mr. Mojo

Math is racisssssss.


20 posted on 11/13/2025 7:16:49 AM PST by Signalman (When your enemy is digging himself a hole, don't take away his shovel.)
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