>Twice in the recent past friends have asked me to proofread their papers. Neither would have received even a passing grade when I was in the 8th grade, let alone college. Sadly, both papers received an A from their professor. I don't put much stock in degrees received after the mid 90s (in general). I believe the trend has been continously downhill since then. I know there are still competent professors out there and dedicated students that are willing to put forth the effort, however, I do not believe it is anylonger the majority.

Among other factors, I wouldn't dismiss the fear of litigation as contributing to this. I've seen the measures taken to ensure that nobody will know the kid's grades, sometimes not even the kid itself (themselves? ahemmm). Why? Well, parents of one kid in California sued the school for 'publicly humiliating their child by publishing his grades', or something to that effect.

Not to mention the huge amount of paperwork teaching staff has to keep just to protect themselves from another potential array of lawsuits.

The other factor, I think, is the money. How much does teaching at a state college get you? I've heard some ridiculously low numbers at the college my daughters attend. Yes, it's only a part time job, but then you need another job which would match the rest of the time... which leaves you a lot of time to do the first job well prepared.