Remedial Education in Community Colleges

EdInfo 01-01
January, 2001
ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges

Remedial education, designed to prepare students for college-level coursework, is one of the fundamental functions of community colleges. The American Association of Community Colleges found that at least one remedial course was offered in every community college responding to their recent survey. The study, mailed to over 1,100 colleges and yielding a response rate of nearly 40 percent, examined the policies and practices guiding remedial education on a nationwide basis. Following are some of the findings reported by the AACC:

• Students: Survey responses indicated greatly varied rates of enrollment in community college remedial education courses. The majority of institutions reported that less than 20 percent of students were enrolled in remedial courses, though enrollment figures nationwide ranged from 1 to 80 percent of students.

• Assessment and Course Placement: Assessment for remedial education placement was required for all students in fifty-eight percent of the institutions. Placement into remedial courses was mandatory at seventy-five percent of these colleges. The methods most frequently used for assessment were computerized assessment measures (63 percent of colleges), and paper-and-pencil assessment measures (60 percent). College entrance exams, institutionally-developed measures and state exams were common.

• Subject Areas: Remedial math, reading and writing were offered by approximately 95 percent of the colleges. Less than half of the institutions reported offering science, English as a second language, and adult basic education courses.

• Credits Awarded: Seventy-six percent of the colleges awarded institutional credit for all remedial courses, 5 percent offered degree credit only, 5 percent assigned no credit, and the remaining 14 percent offered multiple forms of credit.

• Exiting Remedial Coursework: The most popular method (employed by 91 percent of institutions) to assess students' readiness to leave remedial coursework was successful completion of the course. Exit exams, evaluations, and administering the original assessment test were also used as forms of measurement.

This information was reported in JC 010106, "Remedial Education: Practices and Policies in Community Colleges" by Christopher Shults. A full-text copy of this document is available online at http://www.aacc.nche.edu/initiatives/issues/Remedial.pdf

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