Critics Of American Colleges Typically Attribute The

Although Professors Regard Improving Critical Thinking As The Most Important Goal Of College, Tests Reveal That Seniors Who Began Their Studies With Average Critical Thinking Skills Have Progressed Only From The 50th Percentile Of Entering Freshmen To About The 69th Percentile.

I Think It's Sort Of An Outrage That Companies Should Have To Hire Firms To Teach The College Graduates They Employ How To Write.

For Some Students, Especially In The Sciences, The Knowledge Gained In College May Be Directly Relevant To Graduate Study. For Almost All Students, A Liberal Arts Education Works In Subtle Ways To Create A Web Of Knowledge That Will Illumine Problems And Enlighten Judgment On Innumerable Occasions In Later Life.

Efforts To Develop Critical Thinking Falter In Practice Because Too Many Professors Still Lecture To Passive Audiences Instead Of Challenging Students To Apply What They Have Learned To New Questions.

The College That Takes Students With Modest Entering Abilities And Improves Their Abilities Substantially Contributes More Than The School That Takes Very Bright Students And Helps Them Develop Only Modestly.