A significant percentage of American college students have to take remedial writing classes. From elementary school on up, the American education system is a catastrophic failure at educating young people. I know a teacher whose students in high school English at a charter school find it almost impossible to finish reading a three-page short story—and as for understanding and writing about the short story, forget it. At my college, there were students every year who had to do remedial writing. The education system is failing our children.
We are encouraging the world, particularly Asia, to enroll in our universities and colleges. Students from these countries have even less skill in the spoken, read, written, English language. The CCP generously supports these students to attend American universities, and for as long as they wish, taking, for example, seven years to earn a Ph.D. after the M.A. This also affects how much content, the sophistication of the lectures, and what can be required in terms of background of our doctoral students. (I have taught Ph.D. students in the Humanities for the past fifty years and recently retired because I thought this was such a serious problem.)
We are encouraging the world, particularly Asia, to enroll in our universities and colleges. Students from these countries have even less skill in the spoken, read, written, English language. The CCP generously supports these students to attend American universities, and for as long as they wish, taking, for example, seven years to earn a Ph.D. after the M.A. This also affects how much content, the sophistication of the lectures, and what can be required in terms of background of our doctoral students. (I have taught Ph.D. students in the Humanities for the past fifty years and recently retired because I thought this was such a serious problem.)