Can you balance a checkbook? If you said 'no,' you're not alone. In fact, according to a study recently released by the American Institutes for Research, many graduating college students do not have high enough levels of quantitative literacy to do so. In this installment of "By the numbers," the Daily explores the findings of the study, entitled "The National Survey of America's College Students."
3 Skill sets addressed in the study (prose, document, and quantitative literacy)4 Categories by which graduating students' skill sets were ranked (below basic, basic, intermediate, and proficient)
30% Students attending two-year colleges whose quantitative literacy skills were found to be "basic" - indicating that they are incapable, among other things, of "consulting reference materials to determine which foods contain a particular vitamin"20% Students attending four-year colleges whose quantitative literacy skills were found to be "basic" - indicating that they are incapable, among other things, of "calculating the total cost of ordering specific office supplies from a catalog"
6% Students attending four-year colleges whose prose literacy skills were found to be "basic" 5% Students attending four-year colleges whose document literacy skills were found to be "basic"
0 "Significant differences" between the literacy scores of female versus male students 0 "Significant differences" between the literacy scores of students graduating from private versus public colleges0 "Significant differences" between the literacy scores of full-time versus part-time students
38% Graduating students at four-year colleges who are "proficient" in prose literacy - meaning, among other things, that they are able to "compare the viewpoints in two editorials"34% Graduating students at four-year colleges who are "proficient" in quantitative literacy-meaning, among other things, that they are capable of "computing and comparing the cost per ounce of food items"
1,827 Students included in the study68 Public colleges included in the study12 Private colleges included in the study
The information cited above comes from the American Institutes for Research, the Badger Herald, the Star Press.
