A New Approach to Meeting Remedial Entrance Requirements Is Gaining Ground

Information teachers, parents and college counselors should know . . .

In years past, colleges often required incoming students to take certain remedial courses in math, science, or other subjects before becoming fully enrolled. Often, students took those courses at community colleges, or in special programs the colleges offered, before becoming fully enrolled students.

Now, a new approach, called Corequisite Remediation, is gaining favor. In this approach, students are fully admitted by colleges and begin a regular course of study. But they complete required remedial courses at the same time.

At colleges that offer Corequisite Remediation, students become “official” college students sooner.

According to “Rethinking remedial programs to promote college student success,” an article by Florence Xiaotao Ran and Yuxin Lin that was published by Brookings on February 15, 2022, colleges that offer Corequisite Remediation programs are seeing a number of benefits, including:

Students complete courses earlier that apply to their graduation requirements.
Remedial courses that are offered by the colleges themselves – not community colleges or other outside sources – are better, and better integrated into the colleges’ own programs of study.
Students do at least as well, or better, in courses that are offered by their own colleges.
Students are more likely to complete the courses, and less likely to drop out of college early.

Which Colleges Offer Corequisite Remediation Programs?

If you are a teacher or a college admissions counselor, how can you guide your students to apply to colleges that offer this innovative approach to meeting course requirements?

Unfortunately, there is no online directory of colleges that do. However, most colleges do offer, on their websites, information about how they allow their students to fulfill prerequisite requirements. So if you have students who could need to complete preliminary courses before becoming fully enrolled in college, you can encourage them to investigate those requirements at the colleges where they will apply.

The result could be an easier entrée to college study for your students. And who would not like to encourage that?

Your Students Are Invited to Explore Their College & Career Options with Us . . .

Students who participate in the National Career & College Pathway Study will gain new insights about making educational decisions that align with their interests, passions, and aptitudes. Participants will receive information on college and career opportunities that match their interests.