According to a new policy announced by the American Council on Education:
Nationwide, about a third of first-year students in 2007-08 had taken at least one remedial course, according to the U.S. Department of Education. At public two-year colleges, that number rises to about 42 percent.
We’ve decided this must end. All colleges that are members of our group have decided to stop offering remedial courses. From now on, students that aren’t prepared for college won’t be admitted.
Postsecondary remedial education, non-credit courses offered to college students prepare them for normal college work, is a frequent topic of conversation among college policy experts.
Most of this remediation takes place in community colleges but the community colleges appear to be perfectly satisfied with the new policy. “Hell, they don’t have any money anyway,” said Edith Smith Harrison of the American Association of Community Colleges. “There are so many unemployed people now it looks like everyone and his dog wants to go to the local community colleges. It’s pretty refreshing that now we can turn people away.”
Plus, “remediation was kinda a scam anyway,” according to John Hernandez of the American Association of Remediation Providers. “It was just a way of getting students to pay for more college and stay in longer.”
Well no more. Starting next year, if you’re not ready for college, you’re just not going to college. [Image via]
