Posted on Wed, May 9, 2012 : 10:28 a.m.
EMU sees 12.4 percent surge in students enrolled in remedial courses
By Katrease Stafford
The percentage of Eastern Michigan University freshmen taking remedial courses jumped from 4.8 percent in 2004 to 17.2 percent in 2011, Bridge Magazine reported.
Rhonda Longworth, EMU's interim associate provost, said the increase is due to more students enrolling in college and students possibly being less prepared.
The University of Michigan does not offer remedial courses.
More than a third of incoming college students, about 35 percent, take at least one remedial course. According to Bridge, those classes may cost students, schools and taxpayers more than $100 million a year.
Comments
Steve Krause
Fri, May 11, 2012 : 2:07 p.m.
Oh, and one other thing: there is not a shred of evidence to explain the source of this "may cost students, schools and taxpayers more than $100 million a year." That's a made-up number, accurate to plus or minus $100 million.
Steve Krause
Fri, May 11, 2012 : 2:06 p.m.
I've looked at this report and I've read the associated articles, and for the life of me I can't find a decent definition of a "remedial class." What are we talking about here? I believe the report uses language along the lines of "a class that covers material that students should have learned in high school." That's problematic on many fronts. For starters, there are obviously differences in what students learn in high school. Lots and lots of students (including me, nearly 30 years ago) don't take a math class past geometry; my son on the other hand, who is a high school freshmen (not at a public school, I should qualify here too) is already beyond that. So, is pre-calc "remedial?" Students routinely do things like take basic history classes or read some Shakespeare or learn some chemistry, etc.; does that mean if they take a gen ed class that just so happens to cover the same material in a gen ed class, is that "remedial?" And a topic near and dear to my heart, writing and specifically "freshmen comp." That's what I teach at EMU, and this spring, I'm teaching a couple sections of it. Students take one form or another of writing or "English" class throughout their K-12 education, and yet just about every college student has to take some version of freshmen comp. Arguably, what these students are learning in this class is exactly the kind of thing they should be learning in high school; yet this is an universally required course for students at all but the most prestigious universities. So, is that "remedial?"
AMOC
Fri, May 11, 2012 : 9:33 p.m.
Steven - Pre-calc is definitely not considered remedial math at EMU. The first course they offer in the series for Algebra or Geometry both are. Chemistry is not considered "remedial"; Introduction to Physical Science,which includes several very basic chemistry concepts, such as elements vs. compounds is. And Freshman Comp is exactly that, a first college level course in writing. Apparently the remedial courses are for are students being admitted to EMU who haven't mastered such basics as using complete sentences, structuring a paragraph, and proofreading their work. A friend of mine used to teach that course there, and she was astounded that the college would even admit most of her students.
BobbyJohn
Thu, May 10, 2012 : 5:05 p.m.
Sad that a university offers remedial classes, and especially to more than 1 out of 6 of the students attending. That is what community college is for. You are doing a disservice to these students by admitting them to a university. Why would a top student want to go to EMU if 1 of 6 of his/her classmates is so behind that they have to take remedial classes.
u812
Thu, May 10, 2012 : 12:52 a.m.
Remedial courses are the bread and butter for colleges.
JK
Thu, May 10, 2012 : 12:17 a.m.
"Beginning" to be a community college? You should see some of the writing of under-level EMU students. Wow. How were these students even admitted in the first place?
Tony Livingston
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 8:54 p.m.
Sounds like No Child Left Behind has left quite a few behind.
andys
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 8:07 p.m.
The technology bond passed by Ann Arbor should ameliorate this problem.
Mike
Thu, May 10, 2012 : 1:59 a.m.
More money solves everything...........more taxes!
Deborah Stevens
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 5:05 p.m.
Isn't this actually almost a 200% increase?
Deborah Stevens
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 5:15 p.m.
My bad math- more than 200%!
catfishrisin
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 3:56 p.m.
This is what happens when the admission standard is based on having a heart beat. More and more unqualified students means more revenue.
Lovaduck
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 3:48 p.m.
Ya' think! Anyone who taught there has seen this coming for some time. The fact that EMU has a fine faculty is true, yet they're often wasted since the students in the group mentioned in the article are unable to do the work required. Many faculty over the years have cried "Raise the standards", but the threat is always layoffs, so the situation continues and continues. It's a shame for the fine students who attend there and are held back by often uninterested and poorly achieving students in their classes. EMU does so much good, but it's beginning (and has been moving in this direction for some time) to be a Community College. James Brickley, Pres. of EMU years ago, said that maybe it should think of itself as a Communiversity! Too bad. I hoped at the time he wasn't prophetic, but it looks like he was.
Technojunkie
Wed, May 9, 2012 : 2:54 p.m.
Which means there's a 12.4% increase in the number of tuition debt slaves. Maybe we should go back to the admissions standards of 20-30 years ago and not accept students who aren't good university prospects simply to feed the education industrial complex?
Mike
Thu, May 10, 2012 : 1:58 a.m.
Maybe we should fix the public education system which takes care of the educators at the expense of the students who then need to pay for the classes they should have learned in high school. My son is flourishing at Washtenaw, not so much while at Pioneer...........