45 Percent of the Nation's Undergraduates Learn Very Little in the First Two years of College

This morning Jim Kerr on  Q-104.3 said that he read an article in a newspaper saying that 45% of the nation'a undergraduates learn very little in the first two years of college.  A did a little research and found the article in the New York Times  which quotes from:

Arum, Richard, and Josipa Roksa. Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. Print.

There is a discussion of this at http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/24/does-college-make-you-smarter/dealing-with-a-different-type-of-college-student

I really should purchase this book and make up my mind.  I certainly learned quite a bit all those years ago in my undergraduate days at CCNY.  These early courses did form a foundation to what I learned later along.  I think an issue is that much of what is learned becomes obsolete in a short period of time.

Just some thoughts on a snowy evening.