Report: California Colleges Still Offering Remedial Courses

At least a third of California Community Colleges are still enrolling students in remedial math courses despite state legislation in place to prevent students from being required to take unnecessary noncredit coursework, according to a recent report by the California Acceleration Project, a faculty-driven effort to monitor and guide remedial education reform at California Community Colleges.

The report, released Monday, analyzed plans submitted to the state chancellor’s office by 115 colleges in March detailing the changes they plan to make to better implement Assembly Bill 705. The 2017 state law aims to “maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English and mathematics within a one-year timeframe” in the community college system.

The report found that 38 out of 115 colleges still enroll students in remedial math courses who earned decent grades in high school. Meanwhile, 47 colleges plan to continue offering remedial coursework in fall 2022. In response, the report advocates for the passage of Assembly Bill 1705, designed to clarify and strengthen Assembly Bill 705 for colleges lagging to implement the intent of the law.