Has the Popularity of the English Major Declined Because English is Actually Too Hard a Subject for Today's Student?

Recently writing about the decline of the English major I took it for a response to the anti-humanities, pro-STEM propganda.

But I also wonder if, in contrast with the "soft major" image that English has that makes it such an object of disdain from the standpoint of intellectual accomplishment as well as employability, it is not a factor that many students are finding that major too hard.

Simply put, is it possible they eschew this course of education because they are not up to the demands of the reading? In an age of declining literacy the possibility seems to me to be well worth considering.