College students lose ability to read long texts, instructors say

College students are rapidly losing the ability to read and comprehend long texts, according to a growing chorus of university instructors. Tyler Jagt, a writing instructor at an unnamed university, recently shared on Reddit that none of his students could finish a 20-page assigned article — a task he easily completed a decade ago. Students admitted to losing track of the paper's argument, highlighting a generational decline in sustained reading and analysis. This anecdote is backed by hard data: the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows 12th-grade reading scores at their lowest since 1992. Nearly a third of 12th graders scored below the basic level, meaning they cannot draw general conclusions from explicitly presented concepts. The Casey Foundation reports 70% of fourth graders — about 2 million kids — cannot read proficiently, setting the stage for future struggles.

Instructors primarily blame generative AI tools like ChatGPT, which students increasingly use to generate summaries rather than reading original texts themselves. An MIT study found that 83% of users who relied on ChatGPT during writing tasks could not quote a single line from their own essays — suggesting the tool is substituting for genuine comprehension. Additionally, a 2017 study found that simply having a smartphone nearby reduces available cognitive capacity, even when the device is turned off. Together, these trends paint a concerning picture of declining print literacy among the next generation of professionals, with implications for workplace critical thinking and deep analysis.