In recent weeks, the buzz about the possibilities of “free” community college has focused largely on how such efforts are, or would be, financed, and which students would benefit.
But very little has been written about whether an influx of students would be prepared for college and how institutions would handle a big increase in the demand for remedial coursework.
The attention to community colleges has been growing since Tennessee announced a program, in 2014, promising that high-school graduates could attend any of the state’s two-year colleges without paying tuition. The popularity of that proposal has far surpassed state officials’ original estimates.
President Obama visited the Volunteer State in January, when he made his own proposal for tuition-free community college nationwide. Under his plan, the federal government would cover 75 percent of the tuition at a public two-year college, for some students, while states would pick up the remaining tuition costs.
The president’s plan is not likely to make it through Congress, but if the idea catches on in other states or municipalities, it could attract a significant number of students who had never considered going to college. Many of those new students would be likely to need help with college-level courses, which are often a barrier to completing a degree.
The Community College Research Center, at Teachers College of Columbia University, found that 68 percent of community-college students need at least one remedial course. And less than 30 percent of that group goes on to graduate within eight years, according to the research center.
Thomas R. Bailey, who directs the research center, expressed concern that colleges could be strapped by proposals that attract many new students without offering additional operating money—the money from the state or federal government simply replaces the tuition, which covers only part of the cost of education.
But he was also optimistic that changes in developmental education, as many in higher education now call remediation, are making strides in improving outcomes for students.
“The situation is not as bleak as it seems,” he said.
In Tennessee, for example, the state has undertaken a larger set of reforms, like offering remedial mathematics courses to high-school seniors. The program has had some early success, with an overwhelming majority of participating students completing the remedial requirements and as many as a quarter completing a math course for credit.
Mr. Bailey and others were in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss such efforts at an event sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges. Here are some other ways that states and systems are trying to improve remedial education:
- West Virginia is quickly replacing its traditional remedial classes, which were often barriers to credit-bearing courses, with a “corequisite” approach, said James L. Skidmore, chancellor of the West Virginia Council for Community and Technical College Education. That approach places students into regular courses with extra supports and instruction that focus on the skills they need to pass the credit course. About 70 percent of the students in corequisite courses pass, Mr. Skidmore said, though it’s too soon to know if this approach will eventually improve the completion rates of that group.
For students who are very close to mastering the skills for college-level courses, the system has a shorter, intensive “boot camp,” meant to brush up academic skills that adult students, for instance, may not have used for several years, Mr. Skidmore said.
- Ivy Tech Community College, in Indiana, is trying to reduce the number of students who need remedial education by limiting the level of math to what is actually needed for the major, said Thomas J. Snyder, president of the statewide system. “There’s now a realization that higher-level math courses are not for everybody,” he said.
The system has also created a set of degree pathways, in four broad categories, that are meant to ensure a clear path to a degree with a limited choice of courses, Mr. Snyder said. That approach keeps students from getting lost in the system.
- There are also new ways to make better determinations about whether students really need a developmental course, said Mr. Bailey, of the Community College Research Center. Long Beach City College, in California, for example, has begun to assess students’ capabilities by their high-school grades rather than relying only on standardized tests, Mr. Bailey said.
Another promising approach is the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs at the City University of New York, Mr. Bailey said. That effort provides some students with three years of financial and academic assistance and requires them to enroll full time. A 2014 study found that students who participated in the program completed their degrees at a higher rate than students in regular programs.
“We actually know how to improve completions for students in remedial education,” Mr. Bailey said, “but it costs more money.”
Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs.You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.
