Academically Adrift: Limited Learning On College Campuses

OldSouth took The Lovely Mr. OS to lunch yesterday, in celebration of seeing the sun for the first time in two weeks. On the way, we listened in on this chilling interview on NPR:

A new book by a team of researchers reveals some troubling findings: today’s college students are spending 50 percent less time studying than students did several decades ago. And 45 percent of those surveyed say they didn’t have “any significant improvement in learning” in the first two years of college.

We’ll speak to one of the researchers, Professor Richard Arum of New York University. He is the co-author of “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses.”

OS was troubled to hear this, incredulous even, especially given the realities of skyrocketing costs and student loan indentured servitude that students are entering in order to attend college. What kind of kid blows off these sorts of opportunities, especially when the world clamors for a place at our educational table?

Then, after lunch (our first date of the year), Mrs. OS gets a call from one of her college students, who has just been offered one of the best opportunities of her young career, and she was wheedling Mrs. OS, her major professor, to (a) either excuse her from it, or (b) let it be considered an entire semester's work in her major subject. (It's about a week's work to complete, two at most.) Mrs. OS was not willing to do either, but indicated her willingness to factor it in to the overall semester's work. Tearful student, proclaiming how unfair it all is, etc. etc. etc.
Mrs. OS held the line, and told the dean to do likewise via a later email. Another uncompensated hour dedicated to student crisis on a day off...over news that should have made the student dance for joy.

Upper-class students in her major in other universities would kill for this opportunity, we were telling one another.

But, maybe not...Pfft!