A VERY PUBLIC EDUCATION: Would-be STEM majors can’t add 1/2 + 1/3.

After a year of remote algebra, Diego Fonseca struggled with advanced algebra. Despite a week at George Mason University’s Math Boot Camp, the would-be computer science major failed the math placement test to qualify for calculus four times. He didn’t know the basics.

Across the country, more students are placing into pre-college math, reports AP’s Collin Binkley. “At many universities, engineering and biology majors are struggling to grasp fractions and exponents.”

At George Mason in Northern Virginia, fewer would-be STEM majors are getting into calculus and more are failing, he writes.

“We’re talking about college-level pre-calculus and calculus classes, and students cannot even add one-half and one-third,” said Maria Emelianenko, chair of George Mason’s math department.

More at the link.