The average IQ of today’s college students is much less than the average IQ of college students in the 1940s.
This is true – but it’s because few went to college in the 1940s versus today when a majority of students go to college. The effect is that the average IQ of today’s college students is on par with the average of the overall population.
According to a widespread belief, the average IQ of university students is 115 to 130 IQ points, that is, substantially higher than the average IQ of the general population (M = 100, SD =15). We traced the origin of this belief to obsolete intelligence data collected in 1940s and 1950s when university education was the privilege of a few. Examination of more recent IQ data indicate that IQ of university students and university graduates dropped to the average of the general population. The decline in students’ IQ is a necessary consequence of increasing educational attainment over the last 80 years. Today, graduating from university is more common than completing high school in the 1940s
Source: Frontiers | Meta-analysis: On average, undergraduate students’ intelligence is merely average
