If you’ve ever had to take a mandatory remedial English, math, or writing course in college, you know that there are better ways to spend your precious (and expensive) credit hours. Well, high school students in Ohio who plan on attending an in-state public college or university may be in luck. As of January 3, 2013, all public colleges and universities of Ohio have implemented remediation-free standards for college-level English, writing, math, and science courses. According to an Ohio Higher Education statement, about 41% of all public high school students entering a public college or university in Ohio were required to take at least one English or math remedial course.
The argument is that these classes take up time for students who should be learning more in-depth material as well as resources for the colleges and universities. These mandatory courses are often a result of entering freshmen testing poorly during admission exams for a particular subject, forcing them into taking a no-credit class on material they should have been taught in high school.
By these new standards adopted by the Inter-University Council of Ohio, high school students will need to meet certain standardized test requirements in order to avoid remedial courses in college, regardless of a low admission exam score. The standard will require students to have minimum ACT scores of 18 in English, 21 in Reading, and 22 in Math and for those taking SAT Reasoning, minimum scores of 430 in Writing, 450 in Reading, and 520 in Math.
What Ohio public colleges and universities are attempting to do is create benchmarks for high school students so that they know what level they need to be at academically before entering college in order to avoid taking unnecessary remedial courses. The Ohio public college and university system is also finding that students who need to take remedial courses are often less likely to finish college on time or at all, and end up spending more money than is necessary. The universities see remedial courses as a waste of time for students who should enter college with sufficient basic knowledge to begin taking college-level classes and earning credits immediately. Colleges and universities are also using a great deal of resources, such as classroom space, professors, and teaching assistants to operate these classes, all of which could be put toward better use.
The state of Ohio has taken an ongoing problem with its graduating high school seniors and possibly found a solution to alleviate the issue. Other states across the country are experiencing similar issues with smaller budgets, unprepared students, and limited resources.
Would you like to see your state adopt similar standards for remedial courses to better make use of public college and university funds? Leave your thoughts below!
