Across the country, students are arriving on campus with AP credits and dual enrollment experience, only to find themselves floundering in college courses.
This paradox was brought into sharp relief in Beckie Supiano’s recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, The Crumbling Boundary Between High School and College. Even students in honors programs, selected through holistic review and loaded with early college credits, are turning in shallow essays and skimming the surface in class discussions.
So what’s going wrong?
A Fast Track with Fractures
AP and dual enrollment were designed to expand access, accelerate graduation, and make higher ed more affordable. And in many ways, they’ve succeeded. But these programs also condition students to approach college as a checklist to complete, not a space to explore, question, and grow.
Students may come in with credit, but they’re often missing the metacognitive skills, intellectual risk-taking, and disciplinary thinking that college demands. It’s not a question of capability. It’s about context. These students have been rewarded for performance over process, and efficiency over exploration.
That leaves many underprepared for what higher education actually requires.
The Role of Scalable, Student-Centered Support
If we accept that college-level work done in high school isn’t a perfect proxy for college readiness, then we must also rethink how we support students once they get to campus.
That’s where peer tutoring comes in.
At Knack, we partner with institutions to expand access to just-in-time, course-aligned support delivered by peers who have been in those same classrooms. Our model meets students where they are and grows with them, fostering academic confidence, community, and a clearer sense of what it means to think and work like a college student.
We’ve seen the difference this makes. At Fort Valley State University, 57 percent of students who used Knack had never engaged with tutoring before. Their first experience with academic support wasn’t remedial. It was relational. It wasn’t about catching up. It was about leaning in.
Let’s Rethink Readiness
Colleges can no longer assume students will arrive fully prepared. But we can ensure they don’t have to figure it all out alone.
If we want to transform early momentum into sustained success, we need academic support models that are responsive, inclusive, and scalable. We need systems that recognize strong applicants may still need help becoming strong learners.
Want to better support your students from day one? Learn how Knack can help you build a peer tutoring program that scales support without scaling your staff. Let’s talk.
