back when I was in college-which was a looooooong time ago, the UC system had an English requirement. If you passed the test out of High School you met the requirement. If not, you had to take Subject A for $50 for the quarter and no credit. The majority of students took Sub A. So many, in fact, that they finally relented and allowed it for credit.

There was also a History test to take. Non-passers had to take a class in history or gubmint. Something like 1% or less passed.

For a BSc you needed a certain amount of credits in a foreign language. There, again, was a test. If you passed to whatever level you took in HS you could take the next class for full credit. Do poorly and you could take a lower class for half credit. Do even worse and you had to start over.

It is not necessarily a "new" problem that HS grads are unprepared for college. Perhaps schools are just perfecting it.