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  Postsecondary SuccessDevelopmental/Remediation |
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State policymakers want to ensure students pursue postsecondary education and, more importantly, that they are prepared to do college-level work upon graduation from high school. Four-year institutions likewise largely feel that they should not have to teach content that students should have mastered in high school. According to a 1996 study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, 100% of community colleges and 81% of four-year institutions offer remediation to students. Still, the cost of remediation accounts for less than 1% of the total annual higher education budget. (Breneman and Harlow, 1998). Despite the fact that the number of students enrolling in college increased from 1989 to 1995, the number of incoming freshmen requiring remediation remained roughly the same — about 30% (NCES, 1996). Studies support the premise that remediation enables students to pursue college-level work: approximately two-thirds of students enrolled in remedial reading, writing or mathematics courses successfully completed those courses. More important, 45% of students who took two remedial courses achieved at least an associate degree, and, surprisingly, 35% of students who took five or more remedial courses earned at least an associate degree (NCES, 1996).
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Remediation is defined as coursework offered at a postsecondary institution (either community college or four-year) that is below college-level work. It is also known as "developmental education," "basic-skills training," or "nontraditional coursework." States are grappling with the question of whether it should be offered at two- or four-year institutions, privately by for-profit entities or not at all. Further, if it is necessary, who should be provided with remediation classes — two- or four-year students, recent high school graduates, returning students? Who stands to gain the most from remediation classes? Equally important, who pays for remedial classes?
The data on remediation show that the number of remedial courses a student must take, coupled with the subjects in which the student has deficiencies, has a direct correlation to his or her ability to succeed in remediation and earn a degree. Students who require remediation in reading are at a greater disadvantage than those with a math deficiency (McCabe, 2000). The data also point out that high-school-level coursework has a greater impact on the need for remediation than does gradepoint average. Students who have had a challenging college preparatory curriculum at the high school level, regardless of grades, are usually better prepared to do college-level work (Adelman, 1998).
