{"id":359150,"date":"2026-06-13T10:11:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T10:11:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/359150\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T10:11:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T10:11:26","slug":"professors-at-top-california-college-forced-to-radically-alter-coursework-as-students-struggle-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/359150\/","title":{"rendered":"Professors at top California college forced to radically alter coursework as students struggle to read"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humanities professors at one of California\u2019s most prestigious universities<\/a> say they are assigning fewer pages, replacing full books with excerpts and rethinking coursework as students increasingly struggle to keep up with reading-heavy classes.<\/p>\n

The concerns, raised by faculty at\u00a0University of California, Berkeley<\/a>, come amid a broader debate across the\u00a0University of California\u00a0about whether incoming students are arriving on campus academically prepared for college-level work.<\/p>\n

\"Professors<\/p>\n

Professors are rethinking coursework as students increasingly struggle to keep up with reading-heavy classes. saksit \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Several professors told student newspaper the Daily Californian<\/a> that reading expectations have steadily declined over the past two decades, prompting some instructors to scale back assignments in order to maintain meaningful classroom discussions.<\/p>\n

Carlos Nore\u00f1a, a history professor specializing in ancient history, said the amount of reading he can reasonably assign has fallen dramatically since he joined the Berkeley faculty<\/a> in 2005.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are now reaching a crisis point where if the number (of pages) goes down further, it\u2019s unclear to me whether my discipline of history can really be taught,\u201d Nore\u00f1a said.<\/p>\n

According to Nore\u00f1a, upper-division students once received roughly 100 pages of reading each week, with professors expecting them to complete most of the material. For a course he plans to teach this fall, that number will be closer to 35 pages per week.<\/p>\n

Other professors reported making similar adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of this is to spare students the cost of purchasing books, but part of it is also acquiescing to my sense of \u2014 and complaints about \u2014 the amount of reading assigned, though those complaints, curiously, haven\u2019t gone away as I\u2019ve shrunk the number of pages assigned,\u201d said Mark Brilliant, an associate professor of history and American studies.<\/p>\n

\"Carlos<\/p>\n

Carlos Nore\u00f1a, a history professor specializing in ancient history, said the amount of reading he can reasonably assign has fallen dramatically since he joined the Berkeley faculty in 2005. .berkeley.edu<\/p>\n

\"Mark<\/p>\n

Mark Brilliant, who teaches California and Western American history, said a course that once required students to read seven complete books now relies entirely on selected excerpts. berkeley.edu<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The discussion comes as UC faculty elsewhere have raised alarms about academic preparedness. AP<\/p>\n

Not all faculty members agree that students are reading less than previous generations. English professor Grace Lavery said she has maintained \u2014 and in some cases slightly increased \u2014 reading requirements in her classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason is that the Dickens novels I teach are long and difficult,\u201d Lavery said. \u201cI imagine that if I had been teaching these novels in the same way back in the 1950s, I would have had exactly the same problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Some professors also expressed concern about students relying on artificial intelligence tools to summarize texts<\/a> instead of engaging directly with the material.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found that very upsetting, because I\u2019ve read the AI summary of my own book, and it\u2019s all wrong,\u201d history professor Trevor Jackson said. \u201cEven a good summary is still not grappling with the text.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discussion comes as UC faculty elsewhere have raised alarms about academic preparedness in other subjects.<\/p>\n

\"Professors<\/p>\n

Professors reported making adjustments to weekly reading assignments. caftor \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the University of California announced it will study whether to reinstate SAT and ACT testing requirements, six years after eliminating them from admissions, the LA Times reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

The review follows mounting pressure from more than 1,400 faculty members who argue that many students are entering college without the skills needed for rigorous coursework.<\/p>\n

In a recent open letter, professors warned that preparation gaps have become so severe that some instructors are reteaching basic math concepts while attempting to cover college-level material.<\/p>\n

The concerns were echoed in a 2025 report from\u00a0University of California, San Diego,\u00a0that found a sharp increase in incoming students whose math abilities tested below high school levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UC Academic Senate chair Ahmet Palazoglu said the university system has recognized that \u201cacademic preparedness for college is a growing challenge\u201d and will spend the next year examining whether changes to admissions standards or high school course requirements are needed.<\/p>\n