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Who enrolls in remedial math or English courses in Utah?
March 29, 2019
As postsecondary education becomes increasingly important, so does the affordability, preparedness and access to institutions of higher education. Enrollment in remedial courses helps assess Utah students’ preparedness in obtaining higher education after high school graduation.
Remedial courses are non-credit bearing courses designed to prepare students for college-level math and English. These courses are compulsory for students who do not meet the required scores in placement exams. In 2016, 24% of university or college students enrolled in remedial courses. Snow College had the highest percentage of university or college students taking remedial courses at 44%.
Considering enrollment by race/ethnicity, Black/African American students and American Indian students were tied as the highest groups enrolled in remedial courses at 40%. Among age groups, students over the age of 22 were more likely to enroll in remedial courses compared to students from 18 to 22 years old. With gender, enrollment was equal with 24% of males and 24% of females in remedial courses.
The majority of remedial enrollment is in developmental math rather than English. While students who require remedial math are overall more likely to drop out of college, those students who completed both their remedial and college-level math requirements were just as likely to complete a degree as students who did not require remedial math.
Learn more in the Postsecondary Readiness section of Utah’s Education Pipeline.