Literacy Skills of Many College Graduates Found Deficient

By Debra Viadero

The literacy levels of college graduates range from "a lot less than impressive" to "near alarming," a recent report suggests.

The analysis, conducted by researchers at the Educational Testing Service, is an attempt to pull together existing data that may reveal something about the quality of the nation's higher-education system.

While a number of studies and assessments in recent years have pointed out deficits in precollegiate students' academic skills, comparatively few have scrutinized the knowledge and skills of students...