Is College harder than thirty years ago?

[RJ312]

It has now been 8 years since the thread started, which was meant to compare to compare college in the 2000s/early 2010s to pre-1980.

In the decades since 1980, the college experience has been quite watered down. I finished college in the mid-2000s, and I don't think I exited college with as good of an education as I would have gotten had I finished college in the mid-1970s. In the decade+ since I graduated college, I don't think college has improved.

College GPAs are higher now with ridiculous grade inflation and we don't teach our BA/BS graduates enough. I've been underwhelmed with how unprepared for the working world many graduates are. Many graduates have subpar writing abilities. I've seen co-workers write at levels that I do not think of worthy of a BA/BS degree.

[CorporateCowboy]

Originally Posted by Workaholic?

My 19 year old nephew and his friends study 40 hours a week and are in class or lab another 15 hours and work a part time job another 15 hours a week. There is very little time for fun or sleep!

He tells me that the college classes are super hard and everyone he knows is struggling keeping up with the work.

That is sure different than in my day in college 30 years ago. I found college easy and rarely did much homework. My friends rarely studied to and we got good grades.

So do you think college in general is harder than years ago?

I don’t think college itself is any harder; but I do think the general competitiveness starts earlier to get accepted into one’s school of choice i.e. taking IB, playing sports or being involved in other extracurricular activities, etc. I can see where kids might feel burned-out before they even get there. That said, this is only for competitive fields and the better universities.

Working a part-time job can make a big dent into social time; most try to limit employment to summers and when home during the holidays - especially if they have a grueling schedule or area of study. Everyone needs time to blow off some steam. Some programs will specifically advise against a part-time job (or did in my day).