At a rhetoric class, a professor found no student finished a 20‑page article after six weeks. One admitted the assignment was too long and lost focus. The setback struck a non‑remedial class of high‑achieving writers, hinting at a deeper literacy slump.

Adam Kotsko of Shimer Great Books School noted in Slate that students once handled 30 pages per class now feel intimidated by over ten. He stresses the issue isn’t laziness but missing foundational skills. Similar findings appear across institutions, from high‑sat Wellesley to tech‑heavy Stevens, revealing a systemic erosion of sustained reading for students worldwide.

NAEP data reinforce the trend. In 2021 only 24 % of 12th graders hit Proficient in writing, while 32 % scored below Basic in reading by 2025. Yet half of those seniors earned college admission, exposing a mismatch between admissions standards and actual literacy readiness for higher education institutions and policymakers to address this gap.

Neuroscience studies link smartphone presence to reduced working memory and fluid intelligence, while ChatGPT usage creates ‘cognitive debt’ and weakens neural connectivity. Common Core’s focus on short‑passage evidence drills fails to build stamina for longform texts. The pandemic amplified these effects, accelerating a decline that threatens academic rigor and democratic discourse for future generations in education.