What the College Decline Narrative Misses

I saw this going viral about the apparent lack of preparedness among today’s college students: I'm not sure if others in higher ed are noticing a decline in student achievement this semester, but it's been pronounced in my courses–particularly freshmen. I have a 101 course where, for the first time in my 12 years teaching it, no student earned an A on an exam. — David Alan Hughes (@davidhughes_phd) September 30, 2026 This has become a constant refrain in the established media, too. “Kids these days” are over-reliant on AI and lack basic skills, as the narrative goes. It’s easy to find many headlines from the past few years, such as: The Atlantic: The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books — professors describe students arriving at college unable to handle the assigned reading. The Atlantic: ‘A Recipe for Idiocracy’ — about incoming college students struggling with basic math. New York Magazine: Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College — about students outsourcing their…