Why is calculus so hard?

As a math professor, I have noticed that most students fail calculus because they don't know algebra. Most problems are 1 step calc and 10 steps algrbra. They should know how do solve quadratic equations, find slope, do graphs of lines and curves. Calculus is not hard if you have basic math and algebra skills.

HS administrations put a lot of pressure on teachers to make sure that the graduation rate is high. This means assigning passing grades in required courses even when the learning achieved by the student is very little. In a calculus course, though, students will generally have enough credits to graduate with or without a passing grade in that course. So the teachers are not so much forced to pass students who haven't learned the material.

It depends on which country you live in. Often the standard of teaching mathematics is very low.

No , it's easy !

A technology college, mostly for engineers, changed the curriculum because someone thought part was too hard and unnecessary. One of their graduate engineers designed a bridge that failed because the engineer did not take into account certain things which had been eliminated from the curriculum. They put that back in the curriculum and as far as I've heard, there have been no bridge collapses caused by those mistakes. ===== Some classes are hard because the people using them in life are dealing with hard concepts. Making things easier so that more people can pass will not really get the job done.

If calculus was a required class for graduation, I might be willing to meet someone like you halfway on this sort of thing, but since it's an elective, then there's no reason to relax the standards. We should be pushing people to try harder so they're truly happier when they succeed instead of lowering the bar in order to make them happier for the moment. Everybody wins when nobody is coddled.

Becuase its very high level math and many students are pressured into it and are put a lot of stress on them by teachers who are not good at making sure everyone is learning and only doing it their way.