Associate Professor Kate Epstein of Rutgers–Camden teaches U.S. history, military and diplomatic history, and historical methods. In a recent interview, she gave voice to what many in academia know but few will say publicly: student performance is collapsing, and standards are being quietly lowered across the board.
“I noticed a sharp downturn in their ability to write... and this was pre-pandemic.”
She describes students today who not only struggle to write, but often can't read or comprehend college-level material:
“They make kind of errors in reading comprehension that really take me aback. They just can’t or won’t read as many pages as they used to.”
“A student told a colleague, ‘I can’t read more than two pages at a time without checking my email or social media.’”
In response, professors are adjusting their courses:
“Virtually every humanities teacher I know has cut the number of pages they assign.”
“That’s probably the clearest way I’ve lowered my standards… I’m still fighting a rear-guard action in other ways.”
What Epstein describes isn’t laziness—it’s a systemic collapse in the intellectual habits and attention spans that higher education once took for granted.
This is the biggest open secret in higher ed. And it’s only getting worse. We applaud Professor Epstein for having the courage to say what so many know is true.
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