Ohio University’s 2019 remediation report shows the university spent over $2 million on teaching remediatory classes to students during the fiscal year.
Remediatory courses are those that students must take to develop their skills in a certain subject before taking the entry-level course.
In compliance with Ohio Revised Code, OU must release a report every year regarding the “remediation of students,” according to the Board of Trustees agenda. The report must include the number of enrolled students that require remedial education, the cost of remedial coursework, the specific areas of remediation provided and causes for remediation.
During the 2019 fiscal year, OU spent about $2.6 million paying faculty to teach remediatory courses, according to the 2019 report. That number is down from the 2018 fiscal year, where the university spent about $3.1 million paying faculty for remediatory course instruction.
Further expenses to the university include academic support and student services, which amounts to about $1.1 million.
The number of students taking remediatory courses also went down between 2018 and 2019. In 2018, there were 2,009 students taking remediatory courses. That number dropped to 1,746 in 2019.
The majority of students taking remedial coursework are in remedial mathematics. In 2019, 1,463 students were enrolled in the course for “preparation to participate in initial college math,” according to the report.
For students taking remediatory courses, there is also a cost. Over $2.2 million in tuition dollars went to remedial classes in 2019. Those costs are down from 2018, when about $2.5 million in tuition dollars was spent on remedial courses.
University Board of Trustees discussed the remediation report Thursday during its Academic and Student Success Committee meeting. The link between College Credit Plus, or CCP classes, and remediation classes was the main topic of discussion.
Board members said those in CCP classes are exempt from being in remediation courses. If a student takes and passes a CCP class at the high school level, they are not tested for remediation coursework.
Board Chair Dave Scholl asked if there are any student athletes in the remedial group, but the Board was unsure.
The Board also addressed factors that lead to students taking remedial coursework.
The largest factor contributing to students taking remedial coursework is lack of student preparation.
According to the 2019 report, “the lack of K-12 preparation is the most prominent because the largest portion of Ohio University Students come directly from high school.”
Sarah Dillon, a senior studying music, said she thinks high school adequately prepared her for college courses.
“I went to a very college-prep oriented high school, so I felt really prepared going in,” Dillon said. “But, as far as I know, that very much is not the norm. We were taught with the expectation that we would go to college.”
