U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has initiated an inquiry into declining math preparedness among students entering selective U.S. colleges and universities.
In a letter sent to 35 higher education institutions—including Harvard University, Stanford University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—Cassidy asked for information about the decline in student readiness for college-level math courses. He stated: “The United States faces a crisis in student achievement at the K-12 level that has begun to spill over into higher education, especially in math. This state of affairs is unacceptable and demands immediate corrective action. To that end, as Chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, I am launching an inquiry to better understand the prevalence and root causes of declines in math preparation at selective institutions of higher education.”
This move follows previous concerns raised by Cassidy regarding data from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which indicated notable drops in reading, math, and science scores among students nationwide. Cassidy has also published a report with recommendations aimed at addressing issues within the U.S. education system and improving literacy rates.
The inquiry seeks responses from a range of prominent universities across the country as part of efforts to identify factors contributing to lower levels of mathematical preparedness among incoming college students.
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