LearningMatters | Learning Matters: Rethinking Basic Skills In Community Colleges (2012) @LearningMatters | Uploaded July 2012 | Updated October 2024, 8 minutes ago.
According to Stan Jones of Complete College America, U.S. taxpayers are spending close to $3 billion per year on supporting remedial classes at the community college level. Remedial courses — designed to help students catch up, and often taken on a non-credit basis — often aren't successful at preparing students for their primary, credit-earning coursework.
At the same time, though, the presence of remedial classes is often a cash cow for the colleges; the courses can end up providing funding to other areas.
What can be done to improve the situation? Producer John Tulenko traveled to two community colleges in Maryland that are taking different approaches to the problem.
According to Stan Jones of Complete College America, U.S. taxpayers are spending close to $3 billion per year on supporting remedial classes at the community college level. Remedial courses — designed to help students catch up, and often taken on a non-credit basis — often aren't successful at preparing students for their primary, credit-earning coursework.
At the same time, though, the presence of remedial classes is often a cash cow for the colleges; the courses can end up providing funding to other areas.
What can be done to improve the situation? Producer John Tulenko traveled to two community colleges in Maryland that are taking different approaches to the problem.
