A Cagayan province-based university study revealed that K-12 graduates admitted by the university lacked essential competencies defined in the Commission on Higher Education's (CHEd) College Readiness Standards (CRS) particularly in Science and Mathematics.

Cagayan State University (CSU)-conducted Discovery Applied Research and Extension for Trans/Interdisciplinary Opportunities (DARE TO) K-12 study showed that CSU has admitted 7,384 first-year K-12 graduates and found out that 4,556 or 61.7 percent were not prepared for college.