> Are you implying the average student is not capable of obtaining a liberal arts degree at an average university? about 70% of US high school students current

> Are you implying the average student is not capable of obtaining a liberal arts degree at an average university? about 70% of US high school students currently enroll in college. [0] of those, about 60% graduate in six years. [1] multiplying these two fractions together yields <50% of high school students graduating college in six years. so without drastically changing the current system (or accounting for choice of major, admittedly), it seems fair to say that the median high school student is not actually capable of attaining a bachelor's degree at a typical university. do we have to continue with the current model? perhaps not, but my intuition is that allowing people to "learn at their own pace" would be more expensive per student. this is just based on my experience as a TA; it is far more work to grade assignments that aren't due on a predefined schedule. to what extent, I am not sure; TA time is not exactly expensive. [0] https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/69-point-7-percent-of-2016-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2016.htm https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/69-point-7-percent-of-2016... [1] http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/?level=nation&mode=graph&state=0&submeasure=27 http://www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/?level=nation&mode=grap...