American universities have a 'Maths problem'. So claimed the financial app CEO Patrick Collison in a Twitter post recently that also got the attention of the Tesla CEO Elon Musk . In a post on Twitter, the Stripe CEO wrote that an MIT Maths professor recently told him about the significant decline in the Mathematical proficiency of incoming students. He further added that Harvard University has even started remedial Math courses to help students bridge the gap in essential algebraic skills.
"This week, a math professor at MIT told me that incoming students are, on average, noticeably worse at math than they used to be. Harvard, of course, just added a remedial math class, Math MA5, "aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students," wrote Collison. To this, Elon Musk responded in one word, "Concerning'.
Collison had quoted an earlier post of his where he had shared a Financial Times report that took the topic: "Have humans passed peak brain power?" It had graphs that showed how 'Performance in reasoning and problem-solving tests is declining'. Another graph showed a fall in the 'Average composite CT score'.
Data shows how deep the America's Maths problem may be
In December 2024, The Harvard Gazette published the latest results of the 'Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in America' that showed how US students’ Math scores trail those of many of their global peers. The results also revealed that the problem has only aggravated over the last few years as the US Math scores were lower in 2023 than they were in 2019. The test was given last year to fourth -- and eighth-graders around the world.
How America's 'Maths problem' can be solved
In a conversation with the Gazette, Heather Hill, Hazen-Nicoli Professor in Teacher Learning and Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Education, painted a “disappointing picture,” including the damage done by learning loss during the Covid-19 Pandemic. One way to solve the issue she said is to improve the quality and quantity problem of Maths teachers in schools in America. "There’s such a scarcity of math teachers, which is driving some of the instructional quality issues. We have teachers who don’t have a background in math teaching math, and we also have folks without a background in teaching or math teaching math. Solving teacher pipeline issues is also key," she said.
"This week, a math professor at MIT told me that incoming students are, on average, noticeably worse at math than they used to be. Harvard, of course, just added a remedial math class, Math MA5, "aimed at rectifying a lack of foundational algebra skills among students," wrote Collison. To this, Elon Musk responded in one word, "Concerning'.
Concerning
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 23, 2025
Collison had quoted an earlier post of his where he had shared a Financial Times report that took the topic: "Have humans passed peak brain power?" It had graphs that showed how 'Performance in reasoning and problem-solving tests is declining'. Another graph showed a fall in the 'Average composite CT score'.
Data shows how deep the America's Maths problem may be
In December 2024, The Harvard Gazette published the latest results of the 'Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in America' that showed how US students’ Math scores trail those of many of their global peers. The results also revealed that the problem has only aggravated over the last few years as the US Math scores were lower in 2023 than they were in 2019. The test was given last year to fourth -- and eighth-graders around the world.
How America's 'Maths problem' can be solved
In a conversation with the Gazette, Heather Hill, Hazen-Nicoli Professor in Teacher Learning and Practice at Harvard Graduate School of Education, painted a “disappointing picture,” including the damage done by learning loss during the Covid-19 Pandemic. One way to solve the issue she said is to improve the quality and quantity problem of Maths teachers in schools in America. "There’s such a scarcity of math teachers, which is driving some of the instructional quality issues. We have teachers who don’t have a background in math teaching math, and we also have folks without a background in teaching or math teaching math. Solving teacher pipeline issues is also key," she said.
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