Forgetting learned knowledge post-college – How normal is It?

Hi all. This may seem like an odd question, but I've been hearing a lot that college graduates tend to forget a lot of what they've learned after a few years. Can someone explain how true is this and what factors contribute to this phenomenon?

The phenomenon you're referring to is pretty common and there are a few reasons behind it. To begin with, if the knowledge or skills that were gained in college are not used frequently, your brain may deem them as not important, leading to them being forgotten. This is a natural cognitive process known as "use it or lose it."

An important aspect of learning is continual application, which reinforces neural pathways associated with the information, making it easier to access. However, after college, people often specialize in a certain field of work. For instance, a psychology major might end up working predominantly in child psychology, not needing to revisit concepts related to abnormal psychology or statistical methods from their academic years.

However, it's key to remember that a college education isn't just about content memory, it's also about skills development, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, and time management. While individuals may not remember specific details from a lecture five years ago, they likely have developed a range of soft and hard skills throughout their college journey, which they continue to leverage in their professional and personal lives.

In addition, continuing education and lifelong learning play roles in this scenario. Even after leaving college, people continue to learn - it's just that their learning experiences take on different forms, like job training, self-directed education, non-formal online courses, or pursuing a hobby. In these contexts, people apply, consciously or not, the most generalizable aspects of their college learning, like problem-solving approaches or research skills.

To preserve the knowledge gained in college, applying the learned concepts in real-world scenarios, teaching the concepts to others, or occasionally revisiting them can be beneficial. Also, it should be noted that "forgetting" isn't absolute. Many times, with a brief refresh or review, much of this knowledge can be quickly recalled.