Three things to know:

Academics skew liberal. According to professor Sam Abrams, that’s a problem for higher education.

Forty percent of Americans read at -- or below -- a basic level. And a disconnect between reading researchers and teachers is partly to blame.

Going co-ed wasn’t easy for the Ivies. Just ask the Dartmouth alums who wrote this appeal in 1970: “For God’s sake, for Dartmouth’s sake, and for everyone’s sake, keep the damned women out.”