By Jessica Lyons
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Helping Students Catch Up
Remedial courses are designed to help students who might not be ready to tackle college in areas like English, writing and math. These courses could make a significant difference in whether students succeed in their college programs or if they possibly fail or drop out. If a student doesn't have these basics down, it would be difficult for them to move onto more difficult concepts and work.
A High Need for Remedial Courses
When the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics released 'The Condition of Education 2011' report, it examined exactly how many undergraduate college students needed remedial classes. The findings showed that 36% of students had taken a remedial course at some point in their lives, with nine percent taking at least one during their first year at college (meanwhile seven percent of students took two remedial courses in their first collegiate year, and four percent took three or more).
In a 2006 release, the advocacy group Alliance for Excellent Education cited statistics that showed math to be the most in-demand remedial class, with 35% of all remedial students taking it. Another 23% took writing classes, and 20% were doing remedial work in reading.
Costing Colleges Money
Offering remedial services to students ends up costing colleges more money, which could be a painful expense to have to fit into budgets that always seem to be getting tighter and tighter. The Alliance for Excellent Education reported that $1.4 billion a year is spent on remedial education. There are several expenses that colleges have to worry about while providing these classes, including instructors, classrooms and other support services.
The Impact on Students
Having to take remedial classes can impact students in several ways, such as hurting their confidence. Students enrolled in these courses could develop concerns that, if they need to take classes to catch up, they might not be able to handle college at all. These thoughts could lead to some students giving up before they have a chance to even try to do well.
In addition to the mental impact of needing remediation, students might also have to take longer to finish their degree programs, since they could have to hold off on taking some requirements until they get caught up on their foundational knowledge. This could then lead to financial complications as they find themselves trying to figure out how to pay for their extra time in school.
The Solution
To correct this problem, the obvious solution is that high schools must better prepare students for college. Schools need to make sure that students aren't moved up a grade level before they're ready. It could also be beneficial to find ways to increase funding to high schools so that they have the resources to provide tutoring and other support services to help their students succeed during their time there. By making sure high schools are giving students all the tools they should have by graduation time, they'll be increasing their students' chances of college success.
Find out if students think their high schools are doing a good job with college preparation.