What's wrong with higher education today?

No, not the Columbia University professor who has gotten millions to rewrite hillbilly jokes as "Ivy League Professor" jokes, but rather the sad case of many who cannot get their Wayne State University degrees because....

.....apparently they cannot pass a test of basic algebra skills.  No, not college freshman algebra, but rather the level of mathematics typically taught in eighth or ninth grade.  Now the person profiled in the article may be entirely correct that she does not use algebra in daily life--though a decent financial adviser might be able to tell her exactly why she might want to to maximize her retirement and minimize her taxes. 

That said, we face the sad spectre that this woman apparently cannot get her act together enough to pass freshman algebra--and yet she would, if she could, possess a college degree.  In short, it proves that for too many, a college degree is merely a glorified vo-tech college certificate.