About U.S. Higher Education

By the numbers
Costs: Up, Up & Away
Finances: the rich get richer
Success: getting our money's worth
Management & Governance

Success: Getting Our Money's Worth?

  • According to world university rankings compiled by The Times of London, six of the top 10 universities in the world are located in the United States. Harvard was ranked number one. After that, the quality declines rapidly, with just 37 of the top 100 schools located in the United States.

Source:  The Times of London, 2007

  • A study by the American Research Institutes, supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that only 38 percent of all students at four-year colleges and universities were proficient in reading and understanding such things as newspaper editorials, just 40 percent were proficient in completing documents such as job applications, and only 35 percent were proficient in quantitative tasks such as balancing a checkbook or understanding the terms of a car loan described in a newspaper ad.

Source:  Pew Charitable Trusts

  • 40.9 percent of faculty surveyed during the 2004-2005 school year said that most of the students they teach lack the basic skills necessary for college-level work.

Source:  2007-2008 Almanac of Higher Education, Chronicle of Higher Education

In 2006, scholars at the University of Connecticut conducted a national survey of more than 14,000 college freshman and seniors for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute to gauge their “civic literacy,” defined as knowledge of American history, government, market economics, and the role of America in the world. Despite several years of college, most of the seniors failed.

Average Senior Scores on Basic Civic Literacy Exam

    Test Section
    Seniors
    Grade
    Overall
    53.2% (Correct)
    F
    American History
    58.50%
    F
    Government
    51.40%
    F
    America and the World
    51.50%
    F
    Market Economy
    50.50%
    F

Source: Intercollegiate Studies Institute

  • A 2002 Zogby poll conducted for the National Association of Scholars found that contemporary college seniors have no better grasp of general knowledge than high school graduates of almost half a century ago.

Source:  National Association of Scholars

  • American history is no longer required at any of the 50 “top” U.S. colleges and universities, mathematics is no longer required at 62 percent, a common writing course is no longer required at 30 percent, and a class in the natural or physical sciences is no longer required at 38 percent.

Source:  American Council of Trustees and Alumni