California could cut remedial classes for community college students if new law passes
Despite evidence showing community college students are passing transfer-level math and English courses without first taking remedial classes, hundreds of students in the central San Joaquin Valley remain stuck in lower-level classes, according to student advocates across California.
A new bill heard in the State Assembly Higher Education Committee on Tuesday seeks to change that by strengthening the laws around how colleges are allowed to enroll students in remedial courses.
AB 1705, authored by Jacqui Irwin, would force colleges to place most students in transfer-level math and English courses on their first try. It would build upon AB 705, passed in 2017, that allowed students to take the higher-level courses that could typically be accessed only using placement tests or high school transcripts.
The bottom line, advocates say, is that without having to take remedial courses first, students can get their degrees faster.
“Colleges have claimed that compliance with AB 705 only requires that they give access to transfer-level courses, not that they actually enroll students there,” said Katie Hern, co-founder of the California Acceleration Project and a professor at Skyline College in San Bruno.
“AB 1705 clarifies this misunderstanding, stressing that colleges should be enrolling students in courses that maximize their likelihood of completion.”
The bill would also make sure colleges do not enroll students in courses they have already passed. Hern cited a January 2022 study that showed that even after AB 705 was implemented, 44% of students repeated math courses they’d already passed in high school.
“A lot of them were repeating higher math courses (e.g., they’d passed precalculus in high school but were required to repeat it),” she told The Bee’s Education Lab.
Although Central Valley colleges were among the most likely in the state to be enrolling students in transfer-level courses, only Reedley, Porterville, and College of the Sequoias offered no remedial courses in math in 2020 for the region, according to the most recent data available from the Public Policy Institute of California.
West Hills College Coalinga and Clovis Community were named this week by the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity for excelling in equitable course placement in campuswide English enrollment and Latino English enrollment. West Hills also excelled in Latino math throughput and Clovis in Black English enrollment, the colleges announced. Many smaller colleges in the Valley are enrolling 100% of their students in transfer-level English, including West Hills and Clovis.
But Hern said data revealed several colleges actually backslid and enrolled more students in remedial math in fall 2020 than they did in fall 2019, including Fresno City College. According to the Public Policy Institute, 308 students at Fresno City College and 168 at Clovis Community were enrolled in remedial math in 2020. Merced College enrolled 524 of its students, and West Hills had over 100.
FCC won’t stop offering remedial courses
Fresno City College officials have said that because the school offers many different certificates and degrees, the goal is not to stop offering remedial courses. Some certificates and degrees don’t require transfer-level courses, and those students may prefer enrolling in the lower-level courses, said Lataria Hall, vice president of Student Services.
AB 1705 offers exemptions for these purposes, she said. If the bill passes, colleges will have to show evidence that the students who take the courses benefit from them.
“We are looking at reducing our remedial courses,” Hall said, “but also maintaining some of those because some of those courses are needed for students to get their degree.”
She said counselors already push students to enroll in transfer-level courses, especially if they’re undecided on a path or major, because they may end up wanting to transfer.
The bill passed to the appropriations committee after unanimous agreement from higher education committee members Tuesday.
During the hearing, critics of the bill said faculty would need more support to be able to teach the transfer-level courses, and some said they worried that forcing all students into higher-level courses would cause drop-outs or make it harder to earn certificates or associate degrees.
AB 1705 has earned support from the Chancellor’s Office, some college faculty and staff, and a large swath of organizations committed to research, equity, and social justice in higher education.
“Over a decade of research has established that starting in a remedial class actually makes students less likely to earn a degree,” said Christopher Nellum, executive director with The Education Trust-West.
Hern said every group examined has a higher completion rate starting in a transfer-level course.
“This includes Asian, Black, and Hispanic students. Students with low GPAs. Students with disabilities. Veterans. Foster youth. Low-income students. We can’t identify any group that does better taking a remedial course first.”
The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Read more from The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.