Do the math. If these “college” students are reading at a second grade level what about their peers that did not make it to college. What does this tell you about the future of America when we can send students to school for twelve years and they are illiterate? Who bears the blame? Certainly someone is to blame.
I think that the argument here is that athletes are held to a lower standard.
For instance, the star h-back at my college got in with an SAT of '690'. At the time, you got 400, just for writing your name on the test. If I had tried to get in with a score like that, they'd have laughed at me.
But then again, I can't run a 40 in four flat, either. That would filed under "Extra Curricular Activities", and likely was counted 97% in his admissions scores.
Many college graduates are functionally illiterate.