Study at the college level doesn't require above-average IQ (let alone above-average intelligence), though college graduates IIRC have a mean IQ that's higher than that of the general population. A well-prepared person with an average IQ could certainly go on to college and do well in a range of different fields-- you don't have to have the makings of a rocket scientist to successfully major in marketing, and degree programs are not all created equal.
I think that Bostonian meant that getting a degree in a traditional college subject such as English, history, economics, the sciences, etc., requires an above-average IQ (at a minimum, IMO). A traditional college education teaches you how to do a lot more than just the subject matter of the degree. It teaches you how to reason. My HG/PG brother-in-law once told me, "The most important thing I learned in college was how to read and write. Because of that, I understand what's going on around me better than I did before and I can teach myself just about anything."
Yes, people with average IQs can get degrees in marketing, but studies have shown that their abilities to, well,
read and write don't improve.
Many of the students graduated without knowing how to sift fact from opinion, make a clear written argument or objectively review conflicting reports of a situation or event, according to New York University sociologist Richard Arum, lead author of the study. The students, for example, couldn't determine the cause of an increase in neighborhood crime or how best to respond without being swayed by emotional testimony and political spin.
We've watered down college in the same way that we've watered down K-12 education. More homework isn't more rigor, but teaching meaningful subject matter is. It's perfectly possible to adjust the word "rigorous" to each student's abilities. To me, in the context of education, the term means that the material is meaningful (not superficial memorization factoids) and challenging to the person learning it.
Added:
Students who majored in the traditional liberal arts � including the social sciences, humanities, natural sciences and mathematics � showed significantly greater gains over time than other students in critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing skills.
Students majoring in business, education, social work and communications showed the least gains in learning.
