New Issue Briefs Call for an Academic Reset

Data show students are studying less and professors are teaching less

NEW YORK, NY – In a one-two punch aimed at revitalizing the mission of American higher education, two new Manhattan Institute issue briefs call attention to a fundamental misalignment in college life: students aren’t spending enough time studying, and professors aren’t spending enough time teaching. 

In “What Do College Students Do All Day? The Answer Isn’t Studying,” the American Enterprise Institute’s Frederick M. Hess and Greg Fournier highlight that full-time college students now devote fewer than 15 hours per week to academic work, which is less than half the traditional expectation. Meanwhile, relaxed grading standards and skyrocketing GPAs have masked this lack of academic engagement. 

In the companion brief, “It’s Time for College Professors to Teach,” Hess and co-author Richard Keck discuss shrinking teaching loads among tenured faculty, the ballooning reliance on adjuncts and graduate assistants, and the increasing dominance of research over instruction. The issue brief calls on college boards and public officials to demand greater transparency in faculty workloads and to reset expectations so that professors are required to spend more time teaching students. 

The authors warn of a crisis in our educational institutions when students aren’t studying and faculty aren’t teaching. Hess and his coauthors encourage governing boards and faculty members to raise academic expectations for students, enforce transparency around student workloads and faculty responsibilities, and refocus institutional priorities on teaching and learning. With this academic reset, colleges and universities will revitalize their mission and put learning back at the center of higher education. 

Click here to read the first and here for the second full issue brief.