The Louisiana Board of Regents will discontinue remedial classes in public colleges and universities in favor of corequisite remediation, believed to be more effective and student-friendly.
Many incoming college students are ill-prepared to handle college-level coursework. Remedial classes were designed to teach the basics to bridge the gap.
Spokesperson of the Board of Regents Meg Casper Sunstrom told AP News in an email that 14,000 college students are taking remedial math classes and 4,000 taking remedial English out of 214,000 enrolled in Louisiana.
However, the downsides of remedial classes seem to outweigh their benefits. Students must sacrifice time and money for these non-credit courses, which seem largely ineffective.
Forbes reported that only 10 percent of students at two-year schools finish their degree after completing remedial classes. At four-year, non-flagship universities, only a third of students enrolled in remedial classes go on to earn a degree.
Time for Change
Along with regents, campus stakeholders, and faculty members, the state of Louisiana decided that a new policy implementing the corequisite model would be a better solution.
Under the Gateway Mathematics and English Course Placement Policy, incoming students needing help can now take for-credit classes and receive greater academic support to boost retention and graduation rates.
The change will take effect starting Fall 2023 for math courses and Fall 2024 for English courses.
“Today’s action by the Board is a great example of putting our Master Plan objectives into play. Addressing barriers to student success, like passing college-level math, gets us closer to our goal of doubling the number of credentials in our state by 2030 and at the same time saves our students time and money,” said Regents Chair Collis Temple III.