For students who scored low on standardized tests or performed poorly in high school, many institutions use remedial, or prerequisite courses, to get them back on track. But the University System of Georgia (USG) and Complete College America (CCA), an advocacy group working to improve graduation rates and remove institutional gaps by restructuring educational policies, are hoping to change that with the results of their most recent study.
Dr. Brandon Protas
“Students don’t place themselves into their courses. Standardized tests don’t place them. Colleges do,” said Dr. Brandon Protas, strategy director for CCA. “We see corequisite as an equity strategy, built off of systems that are inequitable.”
In remedial or prerequisite courses, a student must complete non-credit, beginner courses before moving into a college-level class. This disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx students and can be wasteful of a student’s time and financial aid. Remedial courses can also be demoralizing for the student, causing them to disconnect with the institution and eventually withdraw, according to Protas.
Corequisite support, said Protas, is asset-based, not test-based. It stipulates students are immediately placed into a college-level, credit-bearing course, accompanied by a support course where students meet with an instructor for one to three hours a week. This helps them conquer new subjects and prepare them for tackling the next.
“How do we really know you can’t do fractions, because you couldn’t do it on one test at one time?” asked Protas. “The things you brought with you mean you don’t have to start at basic. Corequisite recognizes what you actually bring.”
USG decided to participate in this study with CCA after observing low completion rates for remedial students in their college level English and math courses. Only 20% of students completed their college level math course after taking a prerequisite, and only 45% of students completed their English course after taking a prerequisite.
