Many colleges across the country offer remedial courses for students in subjects like math, English and science to better prepare them for the curriculum ahead but as budgets continue to tighten, administrators in Ohio are looking to cut funding for these classes completely.
According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, the annual cost for remedial classes in American higher education hovers around $3.6 billion. Though states like Florida, Missouri and South Carolina are making strides to restrict remedial funding to more reasonable levels, Ohio has vowed to eliminate the approximately $130 million it spends annually by 2020. How is this going to happen? Schools appear to be approaching the issue in different ways: University System of Ohio Chancellor Jim Petro is calling for better assessments in grade 10 to ensure enough time for extra help before attending college, the University of Toledo is changing its recruitment tactics by improving outreach to private schools and even guaranteeing scholarships as early as eighth grade to secure better prepared students, and Wright State University is working with nearby community colleges to standardize a remedial education curriculum – a move associate provost Thomas Sudkamp says will best serve students when remediation funding is phased out.
Do you think Ohio’s plan is a step in the right direction or is remedial education funding an integral part of success in college?
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