The need for phonics...in college?

This is a story about British education, but I think it is a sad commentary on a lot of today's education in the US as well:

The report also found that many pupils were being held back by a failure to use phonics – the back-to-basics method of teaching pupils to read by breaking words down into individual sounds.

It said there were “few instances of systematic phonics teaching” in secondary schools or colleges, even though it was proved to help pupils struggling the most.

If a young adult--which is what college students are--needs help from phonics instruction, I would postulate that that individual has no business being in college in the first place*!

* People with learning difficulties such as dyslexia excepted.