1 in 5 College Students Take Redundant Math

Roughly 20 percent of college students took a math course they had already completed in high school even though their K-12 assessments suggested they could take a higher-level course, according to a new study published by The Journal of Higher Education.

Federick Ngo, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, authored the study, which tracked more than 5,000 college students nationwide. The study found that 25 percent of community college students took what Ngo called "redundant math," compared to 18 percent of students at four-year colleges. Students who were enrolled at public institutions were more likely to take redundant math courses (22 percent) than were their peers at private colleges (16 percent), according to the research.