I have certain relatives who have snatched themselves half-bald over the issue. Suddenly in his early twenties the kid decides he wants to study science (I'm thinking "great, at last!") but from high school he has a substandard GPA and no apparent study habits at all. Figures he's taken some junior college courses and he's smart enough to walk right in and put his nose to the grindstone now that he knows what he wants to do.
Yep, he got clobbered. Humiliated.
So the answer to your question, I think, is to place more emphasis on study methodology than we have in the recent past, because the kids are reaching the U with (1) a huge looming debt just to be there, (2) little real focus on what they intend to do for the rest of their lives (no surprise there at age 18), and (3) without the basic study skills to address whatever subject they do finally focus on.
It isn't just the debt issue, it's a matter of preparation, and they're not getting that. Had a long conversation with a young plumber only last evening who was laughing about how much classroom time he had to spend just to get his professional certs. "College would have been easier" was his conclusion. (BTW, he is one heck of a good plumber and he's pulling down some serious coin for such a young feller. No college education doesn't equate to no education.) Bottom line - you can't escape it so they might as well teach it in high school. Less social activism, more skull sweat. They could call the course "This Is How To Study". It wouldn't even have to be a major adjustment.
Is it really the student’s fault?
You paid the plumber to fix a plumbing problem.
The student pays the professor to teach him something.
If the plumber couldn’t fix the plumbing problem, would you pay him?
If the professor can’t teach the student the necessary information, should the student pay him?
My college classes were pathetic. The professors struck a pose and lectured. Pass their test or fail. Need help? “Perhaps you shouldn’t be in college.” Perhaps they shouldn’t be teaching.
Our professors have received a pass for far too long.
Their job is to teach, not pose.