Dive Brief:
- Predictable results are in following Florida legislators’ ban on requirements for remedial courses at the state’s community colleges.
- Fewer students are enrolling in remedial courses when they are recommended and more students are failing the related college-level courses, which have seen a spike in enrollment since the 2013 law took effect.
- At the same time, outcomes for students who do enroll in remedial courses have improved as Florida’s community colleges have instituted changes like accelerated pathways and tutoring support.
Dive Insight:
Remedial coursework has been criticized for costing students too much money and delaying the time it takes them to get a degree. Research has shown that students who are placed into developmental education in college are less likely to graduate. While educators have called for changes to the placement tests that decide whether students should take remedial courses, Florida’s solution was not well-received.
Based on the 2013 law, colleges could not ask high school graduates to take placement tests at all. Community colleges, since then, have used predictors like high school performance and background to make nonbinding recommendations to students, many of whom have taken advantage of their right to ignore them.