July 8, 2021
When officials at Georgia State University dug into their data from this spring, what they found was alarming: After a year of remote instruction and pandemic-induced stress, first-year students earned more D’s and F’s in foundational courses, and their drops and withdrawals were up 30 percent to 40 percent.
These early indicators of learning loss are worrisome for college officials across the country, as they plan for this fall. Perhaps more concerning still is uncertainty about how much ground has been lost by entering first-year students. SATs and ACTs, placement tests and reliable grades — the markers colleges have counted on to place students and plan classes — were largely shelved or skewed last year.