Dive Brief:
- Next fall, California State University system schools will not offer remedial classes that don't offer college credit. Chancellor Timothy White says the classes are partially responsible for the system's 19% graduation rate, and he hopes the move will raise it to 40% by 2025, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education.
- Currently, 40% of incoming students have to complete at least one remedial course — a reality which advocates of the shift say can be demoralizing to first-year students, especially since they must pay for the classes and get no college credit.
- As to whether the move will be beneficial is unclear as other state university systems that did the same have seen mixed results. Tennessee's "corequisite remediation" system, where students take basic credits and remedial credits simultaneously, is touted as a success, but after Florida made its own remedial classes optional, many students who skipped those classes ended up struggling.
Dive Insight:
In place of non-credited remedial courses, Cal State plans to offer "stretch classes," in an effort to to provide the same benefits of remedial instruction, while not forcing students to pay for classes with zero credits. Though it is too early to tell whether this approach will enhance student outcomes and retention, other institutions looking to make a similar shift ought to keep an eye on Cal State's progress. In the absence of traditional remedial courses, administrators ought to consider factors like whether a the new structure could do enough to bring a student up to speed through the initial first-semester course.
Colleges and universities could also look to successful examples of remediation that have enhanced graduation rates— such as a remedial program at the City University of New York, which has boasted higher success rates than many other institutions. CUNY Start works with students who did not score high enough to enroll in courses needed toward an Associate's degree, and offers counseling and other support services to students enrolled in the program.
Additionally, four-year universities can look toward enrolling more students already at two-year community colleges, as they may not need remedial instruction and can enter the appropriate college-level course without that extra preparation. Many community colleges are also taking steps to end remedial classes and improve graduation rates, like Borough of Manhattan Community College. In Education Dive's Office Hours series, provost Karrin Wilks talks about corequisite education as well, and how it ought to become the default option for institutions trying to get students back on track:
"I think our most successful effort, and this is reflected in the national research and literature, is what's called corequisite education. So that means that students who would be placed in remediation are instead placed in a college level course with additional wraparound services," said Wilks. "We have that in math, we have that in reading, we have that in English, we have that in critical thinking for our ESL students, as well as students who need developmental reading, and we are seeing really good results."
"So from my view, that is one of the key things we need to do, is push that corequisite education and make that almost a default."