NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Statistical Analysis Report October 1996

Remedial Education at

Higher Education

Institutions in

Fall 1995

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 97-584
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS

Statistical Analysis Report October 1996

Remedial Education at

Higher Education

Institutions in

Fall 1995

Laurie Lewis

Elizabeth Farris

Westat, Inc.

Bernie Greene

Project Officer

National Center for Education Statistics

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Educational Research and Improvement NCES 97-584
U.S. Department of Education

Richard W. Riley

Secretary

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

Sharon P. Robinson

Assistant Secretary

National Center for Education Statistics

Pascal D. Forgione, Jr.

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and

reporting data related to education in the United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to

collect, collate, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of education in the United States; conduct

and publish reports and specialized analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and

local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review and report on education activities in

foreign countries.

NCES activities are designed to address high priority education data needs; provide consistent, reliable,

complete, and accurate indicators of education status and trends; and report timely, useful, and high quality data

to the U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education policymakers, practitioners, data

users, and the general public.

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from you. Please direct your comments to:

National Center for Education Statistics

Office of Educational Research and Improvement

U.S. Department of Education

555 New Jersey Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20208-5574

October 1996

Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Remedial Education at Higher

Education Institutions in Fall 1995, NCES 97-584, by Laurie Lewis and Elizabeth Farris. Bernie Greene, project

officer. Washington, DC: 1996.

Contact

Bernie Greene

(202) 219-1366

This report was prepared by Westat, Inc., under contract with the National Center for Education

Statistics.
iii

Highlights

he Survey on Remedial Education in Higher Education

Institutions was requested by the Planning and Evaluation Service

of the Office of the Under Secretary within the U.S. Department of

Education. This survey was designed to provide current national

estimates about the extent of remediation on college campuses. The

study examined participation in college-level remedial education,

characteristics of remedial courses and programs, and policies or laws

that affect remedial education. Institutions provided information

about their remedial program if they provided any remedial reading,

writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995. For purposes of this

study, remedial courses were defined as courses in reading, writing, or

mathematics for college students lacking those skills necessary to

perform college-level work at the level required by the institution.

Thus, what constituted remedial courses varied from institution to

institution. Data were collected in fall 1995 from 2-year and 4-year

higher education institutions that enroll freshmen and were weighted to

provide national estimates.

• About three-quarters (78 percent) of higher education

institutions that enrolled freshmen offered at least one remedial

reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995 (table 1).

Remedial courses were especially common at public 2-year

institutions (100 percent) and institutions with high minority

enrollments (94 percent). Public 4-year institutions also were

important providers of remediation, with 81 percent providing

at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course.

• Remedial reading courses were offered by 57 percent and

remedial writing and mathematics courses by about threequarters of higher education institutions that enrolled freshmen

(table 1). Almost all (99 percent) public 2-year institutions

offered remedial courses in each subject area.

• Most institutions that offered remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics courses offered one or two different courses in a

subject area in fall 1995 (figure 1). The average (mean)

number of courses offered was 2.1 for reading, 2.0 for writing,

and 2.5 for mathematics (table 2). Public 2-year institutions

offered a much higher average number of courses than other

types of institutions.

T
iv

• Twenty-nine percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in at least

one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall

1995 (table 3). Remedial courses in mathematics were taken by

more freshmen than were remedial reading and writing courses.

There was a general pattern of higher remedial enrollments and

lower remedial pass rates at public 2-year and high minority

enrollment institutions. In general, about three-quarters of the

students enrolled in remedial courses pass or successfully

complete those courses (table 6).

• About half (47 percent) of institutions offering remedial courses

indicated that the number of students enrolled in remedial

courses at their institution had stayed about the same in the last

5 years, 39 percent said enrollments had increased, and 14

percent said they had decreased (table 4). A greater percentage

of public 2-year than of other types of institutions indicated that

remedial enrollments had increased.

• At most institutions, students do not take remedial courses for

long periods of time: two-thirds of institutions indicated that

the average time a student takes remedial courses was less than

1 year, 28 percent indicated that the average time was 1 year,

and 5 percent indicated that the average time was more than 1

year (table 5). Students were more likely to take remedial

courses for a longer time at certain types of institutions than at

others, with fewer public 2-year and high minority enrollment

institutions reporting that students take remedial courses for

less than 1 year.

• Among the 22 percent of institutions that did not offer remedial

reading, writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995, the most

frequent reason given was that remedial courses were not

needed by students at the institution (66 percent; figure 3).

About a quarter of the institutions indicated that students at the

institution who need remediation take remedial courses offered

by another institution (22 percent), and/or that institutional

policy does not allow the institution to offer remedial courses

(27 percent).

• Institutional credit (e.g., credit that counts toward financial aid,

campus housing, or full-time student status, but does not count

toward degree completion) was the most frequent type of credit

given for remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses,

with about 70 percent of institutions giving this type of credit in

each subject area (table 7).
v

• The most frequently used approach for selecting students who

need remedial coursework was to give all entering students

placement tests to determine the need for remedial coursework;

about 60 percent of institutions used this approach in each

subject area (table 9).

• Remedial education services/courses were provided to local

business and industry by 19 percent of institutions that enroll

freshmen (figure 7). However, among these higher education

institutions, public 2-year institutions were the primary

providers of remedial services/courses to local business and

industry: half of public 2-year institutions provided these

services, compared with only about 5 percent of other types of

institutions.

• A third of institutions offering remedial courses reported that

there were state policies or laws that affected the remedial

offerings of their institution, with many more public than

private institutions reporting that they were affected (57 percent

and 40 percent of public 2-year and 4-year institutions

compared with less than 10 percent of private institutions; table

13). The major ways in which state policies or laws affected

the remedial offerings was to require or encourage institutions

to offer remedial education.

• About a quarter of institutions reported that there was a limit on

the length of time a student may take remedial courses at their

institution (table 14). Time limits on remediation were set by

institutional policy at 75 percent of the institutions with time

limits, and by state policy or law at 21 percent of the

institutions.
vi
vii

Table of Contents

Page

Highlights..................................................................................................... iii

1 Background .................................................................................................. 1

2 Participation in College-Level Remedial Education ........................................ 5

Institutions Offering Remedial Courses.......................................................... 5

Number of Remedial Courses Offered ........................................................... 7

Freshman Enrollment in Remedial Courses.................................................... 7

Institutional Reporting of Change in Remedial Enrollments............................ 11

Average Length of Time in Remedial Courses................................................ 12

Students Passing Remedial Courses............................................................... 13

Freshman Retention....................................................................................... 14

Reasons Institutions Do Not Offer Remedial Courses .................................... 15

3 Characteristics of Remedial Courses and Programs........................................ 17

Type of Credit............................................................................................... 17

Course Requirement Status ........................................................................... 18

Restrictions on Regular Academic Courses.................................................... 19

Selection Approach ....................................................................................... 21

Providers of Remedial Education................................................................... 21

Remedial Courses in Other Academic Subjects.............................................. 24

English as a Second Language....................................................................... 25

Offering Times for Remedial Courses............................................................ 26

Remedial Offerings to Other Institutions and to Local Business and

 Industry .................................................................................................... 27

4 Policies or Laws Affecting Remedial Education............................................. 29

State Policies or Laws and Remedial Offerings.............................................. 29

Limitations on Length of Time in Remedial Courses...................................... 30

5 Changes in Remedial Education Since 1983-84 and 1989............................... 33

6 Summary ...................................................................................................... 37

7 Survey Methodology and Data Reliability...................................................... 39

Postsecondary Education Quick Information System...................................... 39

Sample and Response Rates.......................................................................... 40

Sampling and Nonsampling Errors................................................................ 41

Variances...................................................................................................... 42

Comparison With Other Estimates of Remedial Education ............................. 43

Background Information................................................................................ 45

Appendix A: Tables of Standard Errors............................................................................ A-1

Appendix B: Survey Questionnaire................................................................................... B-1
viii

List of Figures

Figure Page

1 Numbers of different remedial courses offered in fall 1995, by subject area.... 8

2 Percent of 1994-95 full-time entering freshmen continuing at the institution

to the start of their second year...................................................................... 14

3 Reasons institutions did not offer remedial courses in fall 1995 ...................... 15

4 Type of restrictions on regular academic courses that students can take

while taking remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area............................. 20

5 Remedial course offerings in academic subjects other than reading, writing,

or mathematics, by institutional type: 1995................................................... 24

6 Combinations of time periods for remedial course offerings: 1995................. 27

7 Provision of remedial education services/courses to local business and

industry, by institutional type: 1995.............................................................. 28
ix

List of Tables

Table Page

1 Institutions offering remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics............................................................................ 6

2 Mean number of remedial courses offered in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics............................................................................ 9

3 Freshman remedial enrollment in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics............................................................................ 10

4 Perceptions of change in the number of students enrolled in remedial

courses at the institution in the last 5 years, by institutional

characteristics: 1995 .................................................................................... 11

5 Approximate average length of time a student takes remedial courses at the

institution, by institutional characteristics: 1995............................................ 12

6 Mean percent of students generally passing or successfully completing

remedial courses, by subject area and institutional characteristics: 1995........ 13

7 Most frequent form of credit given for remedial courses in fall 1995,

by subject area and institutional characteristics.............................................. 18

8 Most frequent requirement status for remedial courses in fall 1995,

by subject area and institutional characteristics.............................................. 19

9 Usual selection approach for remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area

and institutional characteristics...................................................................... 22

10 Location within the institution of the most frequent providers of remedial

education in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional characteristics........... 23

11 Institutions offering any English as a second language (ESL) for college

students, and whether the ESL courses are considered to be remedial courses,

by institutional characteristics: 1995............................................................. 25

12 Times when remedial courses are offered, by institutional

characteristics: 1995 .................................................................................... 26

13 Whether state policies or laws affect higher education institutions’

remedial education offerings, and how those policies or laws affect

remedial offerings, by institutional characteristics: 1995 ............................... 30
x

List of Tables--continued

Table Page

14 Limitation on the length of time a student may take remedial courses at

the higher education institution, and how the time limit on remediation is

set, by institutional characteristics: 1995....................................................... 31

15 Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses, mean

number of different remedial courses offered, percent of freshmen enrolled

in remedial courses, and percent of institutions giving elective degree or

institutional credit for remedial courses in academic year 1983-84, fall

1989, and fall 1995 ....................................................................................... 34

16 Number and percent of higher education institutions in the study that

enroll freshmen, and the estimated number and percent in the nation,

by institutional characteristics: 1995............................................................. 41
1

1. Background

he role of remediation in higher education is the subject of

ongoing debate. Publications as varied as those from the

Southern Regional Education Board and the National Center for

Developmental Education, and the New York Times, The Washington

Post, and the Chronicle of Higher Education have discussed the

appropriateness of remediation on college campuses -- for example,

should it be encouraged because it expands educational opportunities

to underprepared students, or should it be discouraged because

precollege-level courses have no place on college campuses? Recent

media reports indicate that numerous states and institutions are

considering policies or laws that affect remedial education offerings.

Proposals include concentrating remediation in community colleges

rather than in 4-year institutions, limiting remedial coursework to the

freshman year, limiting the number of remedial courses offered,

requiring public school systems to reimburse colleges for remediation

needed by public school graduates, and prohibiting the use of state

money to pay for remedial coursework. For example:

• The State University of New York, which has both 2-year and

4-year campuses, is considering limiting remedial courses at its

4-year campuses and requiring most students who need

remediation to take remedial courses through the community

colleges (Chronicle of Higher Education, November 3, 1995).

• The City University of New York, which also has both 2-year

and 4-year campuses, will no longer accept students at its 4-

year colleges who cannot complete remedial courses within the

freshman year; any student needing more remediation will have

to take it in night school or community college (New York

Times, June 27, 1995).

• The California State University System, which has only 4-year

campuses, will phase out most remedial classes by 2007, with

the goal of reducing the number of students who need

remediation to 10 percent of the total by 2007 (Chronicle of

Higher Education, December 15, 1995, and March 1, 1996).

• State legislatures in New Jersey, Montana, and Florida recently

have considered measures that would force public school

systems to pay for any remedial work a public school graduate

T
2

must take in college (New York Times, June 7, 1995; The

Washington Post, April 30, 1995).

• The state legislature in Washington considered a bill to prohibit

using state money to pay for any remedial work (New York

Times, June 7, 1995).

This study on remedial education in higher education institutions was

designed to provide current national estimates about the extent of

remediation on college campuses to inform this ongoing debate. The

study examined participation in college-level remedial education,

characteristics of remedial courses and programs, and policies or laws

that affect remedial education. Results from this study also provide

information about changes in remedial education since 1983-84 and

1989, when the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

conducted two previous surveys on remedial education at higher

education institutions.

To retain comparability with these two previous studies, the current

study included 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions that

enrolled freshman students and asked about freshman enrollments in

remedial courses, even though remediation is not entirely a freshman

phenomenon. Institutions were asked to supply information about

their remedial program if they provided any remedial reading, writing,

or mathematics courses in fall 1995. For purposes of this study,

remedial education courses were defined as courses in reading,

writing, or mathematics for college students lacking those skills

necessary to perform college-level work at the level required by the

institution. Thus, what constituted remedial courses varied from

institution to institution. Throughout the questionnaire, these courses

were referred to as “remedial.” However, respondents were asked to

include any courses meeting the definition, regardless of name.

Institutions may use other names for remedial courses, such as

“compensatory,” “developmental,” or “basic skills.”

The following institutional characteristics were used as variables for

analyzing the survey data:

• Type of institution: public 2-year, private 2-year, public 4-

year, private 4-year. Type was created from a combination of

level (2-year, 4-year) and control (public, private). Two-year

institutions are defined as institutions at which the highest level

of offering is at least 2 but less than 4 years (below the

baccalaureate degree); 4-year institutions are those at which
3

the highest level of offering is 4 or more years (baccalaureate or

higher degree).1 Private comprises private nonprofit and

private for-profit institutions; these private institutions are

reported together because there are too few private for-profit

institutions in the sample for this survey to report them as a

separate category.

• Minority enrollment: low, high. Institutions with high minority

enrollment are defined for this study as those institutions where

the total student enrollment, excluding nonresident aliens, is less

than 50 percent white, non-Hispanic.

The survey was conducted in fall 1995 by the National Center for

Education Statistics using the Postsecondary Education Quick

Information System (PEQIS). PEQIS is designed to collect limited

amounts of policy-relevant information on a quick turnaround basis

from a previously recruited, nationally representative sample of

postsecondary institutions. PEQIS surveys are generally limited to

two to three pages of questions with a response burden of 30 minutes

per respondent.2 The survey was mailed to the PEQIS survey

coordinators at 849 2-year and 4-year higher education institutions.3

Coordinators were told that the survey was designed to be completed

by the person at the institution who was most knowledgeable about the

institution’s remedial education courses. The unweighted survey

response rate is 94 percent (the weighted survey response rate is 96

percent). Data were adjusted for questionnaire nonresponse and

weighted to provide national estimates. The section of this report on

survey methodology and data reliability provides a more detailed

discussion of the sample and survey methodology. The survey

questionnaire is reproduced in appendix B.

All specific statements of comparison made in this report have been

tested for statistical significance through chi-square tests and t-tests

adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni adjustment

and are significant at the 95 percent confidence level or better.

However, not all statistically different comparisons have been

presented, since some were not of substantive importance.

 

1

 Definitions for level are from the data file documentation for the Integrated Postsecondary

Education Data System (IPEDS) Institutional Characteristics file, U.S. Department of

Education, National Center for Education Statistics.

2

 Additional information about PEQIS is presented in the methodology section of this report.

3

 Higher education institutions are institutions accredited at the college level by an agency

recognized by the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, and are a subset of all postsecondary

education institutions.
4
5

2. Participation in

College-Level

Remedial Education

his section provides information about remedial course offerings

and enrollments. Institutions were asked whether they offered

any remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses, both overall

and by subject. Institutions that offered remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics courses were asked about the number of remedial courses

offered and freshman enrollment in these courses.

Institutions

Offering

Remedial

Courses

About three-quarters (78 percent) of higher education institutions that

enrolled freshmen offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics course in fall 1995 (table 1). The percentage of

institutions offering remedial courses varied greatly by institutional

type. All public 2-year institutions and 81 percent of public 4-year

institutions offered remedial courses; 63 percent of private 2-year and

private 4-year institutions offered such courses.4 The percentage of

institutions offering remedial courses also varied greatly by the

minority enrollment of the institution, with 94 percent of institutions

with high minority enrollment compared with 76 percent of institutions

with low minority enrollment offering at least one remedial reading,

writing, or mathematics course.

Remedial reading courses were offered by 57 percent of higher

education institutions enrolling freshmen (table 1). Differences by

institutional type and by minority enrollment were particularly striking

for remedial reading. While almost all public 2-year institutions

offered remedial reading courses, about half of public 4-year

institutions and about a third of private 2-year and private 4-year

institutions offered such courses. A much greater percentage of

institutions with high minority enrollment than of institutions with low

minority enrollment offered courses in remedial reading: 87 percent

compared with 53 percent.

 

4

 In the analyses in this report, the comparisons of private 2-year institutions with other types of

institutions are often not significant because of the large standard errors for private 2-year

institutions, which are related to the fairly small sample size for this type of institution.

T
6

Table 1.--Institutions offering remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional

characteristics

Number of

higher

Percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen that

offer remedial courses in:

Institutional characteristic education

institutions with

freshmen

Reading, writing,

or mathematics

Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions ............... 3,060 78 57 71 72

Type

Public 2-year...................... 950 100 99 99 99

Private 2-year..................... 350 63 29 61 62

Public 4-year...................... 550 81 52 71 78

Private 4-year..................... 1,200 63 34 52 51

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 340 94 87 85 93

Low.................................... 2,720 76 53 70 70

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. The numbers of

institutions have been rounded to the nearest 10. Numbers of institutions with freshmen may not sum to total because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Remedial writing courses were offered by 71 percent and remedial

mathematics courses by 72 percent of higher education institutions

that enrolled freshmen (table 1). Both subject areas showed a similar

pattern of differences by institutional type: almost all public 2-year

institutions offered remedial writing and mathematics courses, about

three-quarters of public 4-year institutions offered remedial courses in

these subjects, about 6 out of 10 private 2-year institutions offered

such courses, and about half of private 4-year institutions offered

remedial courses in writing and mathematics. A greater percentage of

institutions with high minority than low minority enrollment offered

remedial writing and mathematics courses.

The greater extent to which remedial courses were offered by public

2-year and high minority enrollment institutions may be related to the

characteristics of the institutions and the types of students they serve.

For example, about half of public 2-year institutions and about a third

of institutions with high minority enrollment have open admissions

policies, compared with less than 10 percent of 2-year private and 4-

year institutions and 15 percent of institutions with low minority

enrollment.5

5

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary

Education Data System, 1994-95 Institutional Characteristics file, unpublished tabulations, July

1996.
7

Number of

Remedial

Courses

Offered

Most institutions that offered remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics courses offered one or two different courses in a subject

area in fall 1995. At institutions that offered remedial reading, 41

percent offered one course and 34 percent offered two courses; at

institutions that offered remedial writing, 53 percent offered one

course and 26 percent offered two courses; and at institutions that

offered remedial mathematics, 40 percent offered one course and 24

percent offered two courses (figure 1). This is also exemplified by the

average (mean) number of courses offered: 2.1 for reading, 2.0 for

writing, and 2.5 for mathematics (table 2). More remedial courses

were offered in mathematics than in other subject areas for all

institutions grouped together, and for public 2-year, public 4-year, and

low minority enrollment institutions. Within each subject area,

differences by institutional type in the average number of courses

offered in the various subject areas were particularly striking, with

public 2-year institutions offering a much higher average number of

courses than other types of institutions.

Freshman

Enrollment in

Remedial Courses

Institutions that offered remedial reading, writing, and mathematics

courses were asked about the percentage of entering freshmen that

enrolled in any remedial course in one or more of these subject areas,

and that enrolled in remedial courses in each subject area. This

information about the percentage of entering freshmen enrolled in

remedial courses was then combined with information about the total

number of first-time freshmen (both full- and part-time) enrolled at all

institutions with freshmen to obtain national estimates of the number

of entering first-time freshmen enrolled in remedial courses. The total

number of first-time freshmen was obtained from the Integrated

Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 1994 Fall Enrollment

file (the most recent year for which data were available).6 The

percentage of first-time freshmen enrolled in remedial courses was

then calculated by dividing the sum of first-time freshmen taking

remedial courses by the sum of all first-time freshmen enrolled at all

institutions with freshmen. Thus, both the numerator and denominator

for each percentage calculated were based on the IPEDS numbers.

 

6

 The number of first-time freshmen was obtained by summing the numbers from line 01 (full-time

first-time freshmen) and line 15 (part-time first-time freshmen) of the IPEDS 1994 Fall

Enrollment file. There were an estimated 2.1 million first-time freshmen in fall 1994.
8

Figure 1.--Numbers of different remedial courses offered in fall 1995, by subject area

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading

19%

34%

41%

7 %

Writing

6 %

53%

26%

14%

Mathematics

13%

40%

24%

24%

1 course

2 courses

3 or 4 courses

5 or more courses

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject area in fall 1995. Percents may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
9

Table 2.--Mean number of remedial courses offered in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional

characteristics

Institutional characteristic Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 2.1 2.0 2.5

Type

Public 2-year...................... 2.7 2.7 3.6

Private 2-year..................... (#) 1.2 1.3

Public 4-year...................... 1.6 1.5 2.0

Private 4-year..................... 1.5 1.4 1.5

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 2.2 2.4 2.4

Low.................................... 2.1 1.9 2.5

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. The means are

based on institutions that offer remedial courses in that subject.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Twenty-nine percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in at least one

remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995 (table

3). Freshman remedial enrollments differed by institutional type and

minority enrollment of the institution. At public 2-year institutions,

41 percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in one or more remedial

courses, at private 2-year and public 4-year institutions about a

quarter of first-time freshmen were enrolled in a remedial course, and

at private 4-year institutions, 13 percent of first-time freshmen were

enrolled in at least one remedial course. At institutions with high

minority enrollment, 43 percent of first-time freshmen were enrolled in

remedial reading, writing, or mathematics, compared with 26 percent

at institutions with low minority enrollment.

First-time freshmen took more remedial courses in mathematics

(24 percent) than in writing (17 percent) and reading (13 percent). A

similar general pattern of higher remedial enrollments at public 2-year

and high minority enrollment institutions emerged for the individual

subject areas as for the overall remedial enrollment.
10

Table 3.--Freshman remedial enrollment in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional characteristics

Institutional

Number of

first-time

Percent of all entering first-time freshmen that enrolled in remedial courses in:

characteristic freshmen

(in thousands)

Reading, writing,

or mathematics

Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 2,128 29 13 17 24

Type

Public 2-year...................... 943 41 20 25 34

Private 2-year..................... 56 26 11 18 23

Public 4-year...................... 726 22 8 12 18

Private 4-year..................... 403 13 7 8 9

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 338 43 25 29 35

Low.................................... 1,790 26 11 15 21

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Institutions that

offered remedial reading, writing, and mathematics courses were asked about the percent of entering freshmen that enrolled in any remedial course in

one or more of these subject areas, and that enrolled in remedial courses in each subject area. This information about the percent of entering freshmen

enrolled in remedial courses was then combined with information about the total number of first-time freshmen (both full and part time) enrolled at all

institutions with freshmen to obtain national estimates of the number of entering first-time freshmen enrolled in remedial courses. The total number of

first-time freshmen was obtained from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) 1994 Fall Enrollment file (the most recent year

for which data were available). The percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in remedial courses was then calculated by dividing the sum of first-time

freshmen taking remedial courses by the sum of all first-time freshmen enrolled at all institutions with freshmen.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
11

Institutional

Reporting of

Change in Remedial

Enrollments

Institutions were asked whether the number of students enrolled in

remedial courses at their institution had increased, stayed about the

same, or decreased in the last 5 years. About half (47 percent) of the

institutions indicated that remedial enrollments stayed about the same,

39 percent said enrollments had increased, and 14 percent said they

had decreased (table 4). A greater percentage of public 2-year than of

other types of institutions indicated that remedial enrollments had

increased; public and private 4-year institutions reported decreases in

remedial enrollments more often than did public 2-year institutions.

Table 4.--Perceptions of change in the number of students enrolled in remedial courses at the

institution in the last 5 years, by institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Increased Stayed about the same Decreased

All institutions ..................... 39 47 14

Type

Public 2-year............................ 55 40 5

Private 2-year........................... 32 57 10

Public 4-year............................ 28 49 23

Private 4-year........................... 27 52 20

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 33 57 11

Low.......................................... 40 46 14

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995. Percents are computed across each row, but may

not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
12

Average Length

of Time in

Remedial Courses

Institutions were asked to indicate about how long, on average, a

student takes remedial courses: less than 1 year, 1 year, or more than

1 year. Two-thirds of the institutions indicated that the average time a

student takes remedial courses was less than 1 year, 28 percent

indicated that the average time was 1 year, and 5 percent indicated

that the average time was more than 1 year (table 5). Students were

more likely to take remedial courses for a longer time at certain types

of institutions than at others. While 46 percent of public 2-year

institutions reported that students take remedial courses for less than 1

year, 69 percent of public 4-year, 84 percent of private 4-year, and 95

percent of private 2-year institutions reported the average time in

remedial courses as less than 1 year. Institutions with low minority

enrollment reported the average time as less than 1 year more often

than did institutions with high minority enrollment.

Table 5.--Approximate average length of time a student takes remedial courses at the institution, by

institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Less than 1 year 1 year More than 1 year

All institutions ..................... 67 28 5

Type

Public 2-year............................ 46 44 10

Private 2-year........................... 95 5 0

Public 4-year............................ 69 27 3

Private 4-year........................... 84 14 2

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 53 34 13

Low.......................................... 69 27 4

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995. Percents are computed across each row, but may

not sum to 100 because of rounding. Zeros indicate that no institution in the sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
13

Students Passing

Remedial Courses

In general, about three-quarters of the students enrolled in remedial

reading, writing, or mathematics courses pass or successfully

complete those courses (table 6). The percentage of students passing

remedial reading and writing courses was lower in public 2-year than

in other types of institutions, and for remedial mathematics it was

lower in public 2-year and 4-year than in private 2-year and 4-year

institutions. The percentage of students passing remedial courses in

all three subjects was lower at institutions with high minority

enrollment than at institutions with low minority enrollment.

Table 6.--Mean percent of students generally passing or successfully completing remedial courses, by

subject area and institutional characteristics: 1995

Institutional characteristic Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 77 79 74

Type

Public 2-year...................... 72 71 66

Private 2-year..................... (#) 81 80

Public 4-year...................... 82 81 71

Private 4-year..................... 84 88 84

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 70 71 69

Low.................................... 78 80 74

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are for

institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
14

Freshman

Retention

Full-time entering freshmen who enrolled in remedial courses

continued at their institution to the start of their second year at a

somewhat lower rate than all full-time entering freshmen at

institutions offering remedial courses. High retention (i.e., 75-100

percent continuing) of all freshmen was reported by 32 percent of

institutions offering remedial courses; high retention of freshmen

enrolled in remedial courses was reported by 23 percent of the

institutions (figure 2). Conversely, low retention (i.e., 1-49 percent

continuing) of all freshmen was reported by 15 percent of institutions

offering remedial courses; low retention of freshmen enrolled in

remedial courses was reported by 24 percent of the institutions.

Figure 2.--Percent of 1994-95 full-time entering freshmen continuing at the institution to the start of

their second year

(Percent of freshmen at institutions offering remedial courses in fall 1995)

All freshmen

15%

53%

32%

Freshmen enrolled in

 remedial courses

23%

53%

24%

1-49 percent 

(low retention)

50-74 percent

(medium retention)

75-100 percent

(high retention)

Percent continuing

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
15

Reasons

Institutions

Do Not Offer

Remedial Courses

The 22 percent of institutions that did not offer remedial reading,

writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995 (see table 1) were asked

to indicate why remedial courses were not offered. The most frequent

reason, indicated by 66 percent of institutions, was that remedial

courses were not needed by students at the institution (figure 3).

About a quarter of institutions indicated that students at the institution

who need remediation take remedial courses offered by another

institution (22 percent), and/or that institutional policy does not allow

the institution to offer remedial courses (27 percent). Eighteen percent

of the institutions that did not offer remedial courses in fall 1995 had

offered remedial courses at some time during the previous 5 years (not

shown in tables).

Figure 3.--Reasons institutions did not offer remedial courses in fall 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions not offering remedial courses)

66%

27%

22%

9%

5%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Percent of institutions

Remedial courses were not 

needed

Institutional policy does not 

allow remedial courses

Students who need 

remediation take it elsewhere

State policy or law does not 

allow remedial courses

Other reasons

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on those institutions that did not offer any remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
16
17

3. Characteristics of

Remedial Courses

and Programs

his section provides general descriptive information about

remedial courses, such as the type of credit earned, whether

remedial courses were recommended or required, how students were

selected for remedial courses, who provided remedial education, and

when and how remedial courses were provided.

Type of Credit The survey collected information about the most frequent type of

credit given for remedial reading, writing, and mathematics courses:

degree credit that counts toward subject requirements, degree credit

that counts toward elective requirements, institutional credit (e.g.,

counts toward financial aid, campus housing, or full-time student

status, but does not count toward degree completion), or no credit.

Institutional credit was the most frequent type of credit given for

remedial courses in fall 1995. For example, among institutions that

offered remedial mathematics, 71 percent gave institutional credit, 13

percent gave no credit, 11 percent gave elective degree credit, and 5

percent gave subject degree credit (table 7). Patterns of credit given

were similar for remedial reading and writing courses. There was

some variation by institutional type; for example, about 80 percent of

public 2-year institutions offered institutional credit compared with

about half of private 4-year institutions.

T
18

Table 7.--Most frequent form of credit given for remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

All institutions . 3 15 72 10 4 17 68 11 5 11 71 13

Type

Public 2-year......... 1 8 82 9 2 8 81 9 2 7 81 11

Private 2-year........ (#) (#) (#) (#) 11 4 66 19 11 4 66 19

Public 4-year......... 2 15 74 9 6 11 71 12 4 9 74 13

Private 4-year........ 3 34 52 11 5 39 46 10 10 22 55 13

Minority enrollment

High ...................... 4 4 72 21 4 4 70 22 4 3 71 22

Low....................... 3 17 72 8 4 19 67 9 6 12 71 11

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject in fall 1995. Percents are computed across each row for each subject area, but

may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Course

Requirement

Status

Institutions were asked whether remedial courses for students needing

remediation were required or recommended but not required. About

three-quarters of the institutions indicated that remedial courses were

required for students needing remediation (table 8). Public 2-year

institutions required students to enroll in remedial courses less often

than did public or private 4-year institutions.
19

Table 8.--Most frequent requirement status for remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional characteristic

Required

Recommended

but not required Required

Recommended

but not required Required

Recommended

but not required

All institutions ................... 71 29 79 21 75 25

Type

Public 2-year.......................... 62 38 70 30 68 32

Private 2-year......................... (#) (#) 84 16 82 18

Public 4-year.......................... 74 26 86 14 82 18

Private 4-year......................... 85 15 86 14 80 20

Minority enrollment

High ....................................... 76 24 79 21 78 22

Low........................................ 70 30 79 21 75 25

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Restrictions

on Regular

Academic

Courses

Institutions vary in their policies toward students taking regular

academic courses while they are taking remedial courses. Some

institutions do not place any restrictions on the regular academic

courses students can take while they are enrolled in remedial courses,

while others do not allow students to take any regular academic

courses while they are taking remedial courses. Other institutions

allow students enrolled in remedial courses to take some regular

academic courses (e.g., a student taking remedial mathematics could

take regular English courses but could not take regular mathematics

courses until remediation in mathematics was complete).
20

About two-thirds of institutions placed some restrictions on the

regular academic courses that students could take while they were

enrolled in remedial courses; about one-third of institutions did not

place any restrictions on regular academic courses (figure 4). Only 2

percent of institutions did not allow students to take any regular

academic courses while they were taking remedial courses.

Figure 4.--Type of restrictions on regular academic courses that students can take while taking

remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading

2 %

65%

33%

Writing

2 %

69%

29%

Mathematics

2 %

64%

35%

No restrictions

Some restrictions

Totally restricted

Restrictions on regular 

academic courses

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject area in fall 1995. Percents may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
21

Selection

Approach

Institutions have a number of options for selecting those students that

need remedial coursework: they may give all entering students

placement tests to determine need for remediation, they may give

entering students who meet various criteria (e.g., low SAT/ACT

scores or low grade point averages) placement tests to determine need,

they may require or encourage entering students who meet various

criteria to enroll in remedial courses, or they may use some other

selection approach (e.g., faculty/staff may refer students for

enrollment, or students may refer themselves for enrollment).

The most frequently used selection approach was to give all entering

students placement tests to determine the need for remedial

coursework; about 60 percent of institutions used this approach in

each subject area (table 9). Entering students who met various criteria

(i.e., who do not have SAT/ACT scores, who score below a certain

level on the SAT/ACT, or who have a grade point average below a

certain level) were given placement tests to determine the need for

remediation in about a quarter of institutions, and they were required

or encouraged to enroll in remedial courses in about 10 percent of

institutions. Other selection approaches were used by the remaining 7

to 9 percent of the institutions. Public 2-year institutions gave

placement tests in reading and writing to all entering students more

frequently than did public and private 4-year institutions, and in

mathematics more often than did public 4-year institutions. Public

and private 4-year institutions required or encouraged students who

met various criteria to enroll in remedial courses more often than did

public 2-year institutions in all subject areas.

Providers of

Remedial

Education

A traditional academic department was the most frequent provider of

remedial reading in 55 percent of institutions; 30 percent most

frequently provided remedial reading in a separate remedial division

(table 10). Remedial writing and mathematics courses were most

frequently provided by traditional academic departments at about 70

percent of institutions, and by a separate remedial division at about 20

percent of institutions. Learning centers were less frequently used,

with 7 to 12 percent of institutions most frequently providing remedial

courses in the various subject areas in this way. A larger percentage

of public 2-year than private 2-year institutions offered remedial

writing and mathematics courses in a separate remedial division;

institutions with high minority enrollment provided remedial reading,

writing, and mathematics courses through a separate remedial division

more often than institutions with low minority enrollment did.
Table 9.--Usual selection approach for remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

All institutions 58 23 10 9 60 25 9 7 63 22 8 7

Type

Public 2-year....... 69 20 3 8 69 22 2 7 70 21 1 8

Private 2-year...... (#) (#) (#) (#) 74 20 0 6 79 16 0 5

Public 4-year....... 37 34 17 12 48 27 18 7 52 28 14 6

Private 4-year...... 46 24 21 10 47 28 17 7 56 22 16 7

Minority enrollment

High.................... 67 26 2 4 68 25 2 4 68 26 4 2

Low..................... 56 23 12 10 58 24 10 7 62 22 8 8

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: : Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based on institutions that offered at least one remedial course in that subject in fall

1995. Percents are computed across each row for each subject area, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding. Zeros indicate that no institution in the sample gave the indicated response.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
Table 10.--Location within the institution of the most frequent providers of remedial education in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

All institutions 30 55 12 3 22 67 8 2 21 70 7 2

Type

Public 2-year ...... 34 54 10 3 30 59 8 3 27 62 8 3

Private 2-year ..... (#) (#) (#) (#) 7 87 4 2 7 87 4 2

Public 4-year ...... 32 59 6 3 20 71 6 3 19 72 6 3

Private 4-year ..... 25 50 24 1 17 69 11 2 16 73 9 2

Minority enrollment

High.................... 41 47 11 1 35 53 11 1 34 53 10 2

Low .................... 28 57 13 3 20 69 8 3 18 72 7 2

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based on institutions that offered at least one remedial

course in that subject in fall 1995. Percents are computed across each row for each subject area, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on Remedial Education in Higher Education

Institutions, 1995.
24

Remedial Courses

in Other Academic

Subjects

Twenty-five percent of institutions that offered remedial reading,

writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995 offered remedial courses

in other academic subjects (figure 5). Public institutions (both 2-year

and 4-year) offered such courses more often than did private 2-year or

4-year institutions. The most frequently mentioned subject areas were

science (general science, biology, chemistry, and physics), English as

a second language, and study skills.

Figure 5.--Remedial course offerings in academic subjects other than reading, writing, or

mathematics, by institutional type: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

25%

36%

9%

27%

14%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Private 4-year

Public 4-year

Private 2-year

Public 2-year

All institutions

Percent of institutions

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on those institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
25

English as a

Second Language

About half (47 percent) of institutions that enrolled freshmen offered

English as a second language (ESL) courses (remedial and

nonremedial) for college students (table 11). Public institutions, both

2-year and 4-year, offered ESL more often than did private

institutions. All ESL courses were considered remedial at 38 percent

of institutions, and an additional 38 percent of institutions considered

none of their ESL courses to be remedial. The remaining 24 percent

of institutions considered some of their ESL courses to be remedial.

Public 2-year institutions classified all their ESL courses as remedial

more often than did 4-year public and private institutions; 4-year

institutions, both public and private, considered none of their ESL

courses to be remedial more often than did public 2-year institutions.

Institutions with low minority enrollment more often than institutions

with high minority enrollment considered none of their ESL courses to

be remedial.

Table 11.--Institutions offering any English as a second language (ESL) courses for college students,

and whether the ESL courses are considered to be remedial courses, by institutional

characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen)

Institutional

Offer English

as a second

Whether ESL courses are considered remedial*

characteristic language for

college students

All ESL courses

are remedial

Some ESL courses

are remedial

No ESL courses

are remedial

All institutions ................... 47 38 24 38

Type

Public 2-year.......................... 55 55 31 15

Private 2-year......................... 24 (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year.......................... 58 35 17 48

Private 4-year......................... 42 16 25 58

Minority enrollment

High ....................................... 55 42 39 19

Low........................................ 46 37 22 41

*Percents are based on those institutions enrolling freshmen that offer English as a second language (ESL) courses for college students. Percents are

computed across each row, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
26

Offering Times for

Remedial Courses

Almost all institutions that offered remedial courses in fall 1995

offered remedial courses during the daytime (table 12), about twothirds offered remedial courses in the evenings and/or during the

summer session, 18 percent offered such courses on weekends, and

4 percent offered them at some other time (primarily during a winter

“mini-mester”). Public 2-year institutions offered remedial courses

during evenings and weekends more frequently than did public and

private 4-year institutions, and offered remedial courses during

summer session more often than did private 2-year and private 4-year

institutions.

Table 12.--Times when remedial courses are offered, by institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Daytime Evenings Weekends Summer session Other

All institutions ..................... 99 63 18 65 4

Type

Public 2-year............................ 100 88 31 86 4

Private 2-year........................... 96 70 9 47 5

Public 4-year............................ 97 61 7 77 7

Private 4-year........................... 99 30 10 38 2

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 99 69 32 65 7

Low.......................................... 99 62 16 66 3

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Figure 6 shows the percentage of institutions that offered remedial

courses in various combinations of time periods. A quarter of the

institutions offered remedial courses only during the day; 37 percent

offered remedial courses during the day, evenings, and summer; and

16 percent offered remedial courses during the day, evenings,

weekends, and summer. Various other patterns were present for the

remaining institutions.
27

In addition to the time periods for course offerings, 3 percent of the

institutions offered remedial courses through distance learning (not

shown in tables). Distance learning includes instruction using such

modes as television broadcast or cable.

Figure 6.--Combinations of time periods for remedial course offerings: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

25%

8%

11%

1%

37%

16%

2%

Day only

Day and evenings

Day and summer

Day, evenings, and

weekends

Day, evenings, and

summer

Day, evenings,

weekends, and summer

All other combinations

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents are based

on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Remedial

Offerings to

Other Institutions

and to Local

Business and

Industry

Three percent of institutions that offered remedial courses indicated

that they have formal arrangements to offer remedial courses to

students from other postsecondary institutions (not shown in tables).

While 7 percent of public 2-year and 3 percent of public 4-year

institutions have such arrangements, no private institutions (as

estimated by this sample) have arrangements to offer remedial courses

to students from other institutions.
28

Remedial education services/courses were provided to local business

and industry by 19 percent of institutions that enroll freshmen (figure

7). However, among these higher education institutions, public 2-year

institutions were the primary providers of remedial services/courses to

local business and industry. While half of public 2-year institutions

provided these remedial services, only about 5 percent of other types

of institutions did so. Most institutions that provided remedial

education services to business and industry provided remedial reading

(87 percent), writing (93 percent), and mathematics (94 percent); 18

percent provided remediation in some other subject area (mostly

English as a second language and basic computer skills; not shown in

tables). Most of the institutions provided remedial services to

business and industry at business and industry sites (89 percent) and

on the campus of the institution (74 percent); only 5 percent of the

institutions offered such remedial services through distance learning

and 3 percent offered them at some other location (not shown in

tables).

Figure 7.--Provision of remedial education services/courses to local business and industry,

by institutional type: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen)

19%

50%

5%

6%

4%

0 20 40 60 80 100

Private 4-year

Public 4-year

Private 2-year

Public 2-year

All institutions

Percent of institutions

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
29

4. Policies or Laws

Affecting Remedial

Education

his section provides information about policies or laws affecting

remedial education offerings. Institutions that offered remedial

education courses were asked whether there were any state

policies or laws that affected their remedial education offerings and

how these policies or laws affected the offerings. Institutions were

also asked whether there was a limit on the length of time a student

may take remedial courses at their institution and how the time limit

on remediation was set.

State Policies

or Laws and

Remedial

Offerings

A third of institutions offering remedial courses reported that there

were state policies or laws that affected the remedial education

offerings of their institution, with many more public than private

institutions reporting that they were affected (table 13). Thus, while

57 percent of public 2-year and 40 percent of public 4-year

institutions that offered remedial courses reported that state policies or

laws affected their remedial offerings, only 3 percent of private 2-year

and 7 percent of private 4-year institutions that offered remedial

courses reported that their remedial offerings were affected by state

policies or laws.

The major way in which state policies or laws affected the remedial

offerings of institutions that offered remedial courses was to require or

encourage institutions to offer remedial education. Thus, 59 percent

of institutions with state policies or laws affecting their remedial

offerings reported that they were required to offer remedial education,

and 19 percent reported that they were encouraged to do so (table 13).

Public 2-year and public 4-year institutions were affected somewhat

differently by state policies or laws. About twice as many public 2-

year as public 4-year institutions were required to offer remedial

courses, while more public 4-year than public 2-year institutions were

discouraged from offering remedial education or their remedial

offerings were restricted.

T
30

Table 13.--Whether state policies or laws affect higher education institutions’ remedial education

offerings, and how those policies or laws affect remedial offerings, by institutional

characteristics: 1995

State policies or laws

affect remedial

How state policies or laws affect remedial offerings*

Institutional characteristic offerings at

institutions offering

remedial courses

Required to

offer

Encouraged to

offer

Discouraged

from offering

Offerings are

restricted

Other

All institutions ............. 33 59 19 4 7 10

Type

Public 2-year.................... 57 71 19 1 4 6

Private 2-year................... 3 (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year.................... 40 35 24 15 14 13

Private 4-year................... 7 (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)

Minority enrollment

High ................................. 43 55 19 6 10 10

Low.................................. 31 60 20 4 6 10

*Percents are based on those institutions offering remedial courses with state policies or laws that affect remedial offerings. Percents are computed

across each row, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents in the first

column are based on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

Limitations on

Length of Time in

Remedial Courses

About a quarter of institutions reported that there was a limit on the

length of time a student may take remedial courses at their institution

(table 14). Time limits on remediation were present about equally

often at all types of institutions. Time limits on remediation were set

by institutional policy at 75 percent of the institutions with time limits,

and by state policy or law at 21 percent of the institutions. Time

limits were set by institutional policy at almost all public and private

4-year institutions with such limits, while at public 2-year institutions,

state policy or law was also an important factor in setting time limits,

with 53 percent of public 2-year institutions indicating that time limits

were set by state policy or law.
31

Table 14.--Limitation on the length of time a student may take remedial courses at the higher

education institution, and how the time limit on remediation is set, by institutional

characteristics: 1995

Institutional

Length of remediation is

limited at institutions

How time limit on remediation is set*

characteristic offering remedial

courses

State policy or law Institutional policy Other

All institutions ..................... 26 21 75 3

Type

Public 2-year............................ 23 53 41 7

Private 2-year........................... 26 (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year............................ 24 6 94 0

Private 4-year........................... 29 1 98 1

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 34 17 77 5

Low.......................................... 24 22 75 3

*Percents are based on those institutions offering remedial courses with a limit on the length of time a student may take remedial courses at their

institution. Percents are computed across each row, but may not sum to 100 because of rounding. Zeros indicate that no institution in the sample gave

the indicated response.

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents in the first

column are based on institutions that offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
32
33

5. Changes in

Remedial

Education Since

1983-84 and 1989

ome of the items on this survey were also included in two previous

surveys on remedial education in higher education institutions

conducted through the Fast Response Survey System in 1983-84

and 1989. Selected items that were asked in the same or similar

manner on the three surveys were compared to examine what changes

may have occurred in the intervening 12 years. The 1983-84 survey

asked for the “Number of separate courses (Do not count courses

repeated in more than one semester or multiple sections of the same

course more than once)” for academic year 1983-84, including

summer courses. The 1989 survey asked “What was the number of

remedial/developmental courses with different catalog numbers in fall

1989? (Do not count multiple sections of the same course.)” The

1995 survey was worded very similarly to the 1989 survey: “What

was the number of remedial courses with different catalog numbers in

fall 1995? (Do not count multiple sections of the same course.)”

The percentage of institutions offering any remedial reading, writing,

or mathematics courses varied over the years from 82 percent in

academic year 1983-84 to 74 percent in fall 1989, to 78 percent in fall

1995 (table 15).7 Only the difference between 1983-84 and 1989 was

statistically significant. The percentage of institutions offering

remedial writing and mathematics courses

 

7

 For 1983-84 and 1989, standard errors were available only on selected items. To determine the

standard errors for the remaining items, the ratios of the known standard errors from the 1989

survey to the corresponding standard errors from the 1995 survey were computed. Then the

average of the ratios based on standard errors for all institutions was calculated to obtain a

conversion factor. The standard errors for 1989 were obtained by multiplying the corresponding

1995 standard error by this conversion factor. For the 1983-84 survey, the conversion factor was

obtained by multiplying the 1989 conversion factor by the square root of the ratio of the 1989 to

1983-84 sample sizes. This approach was used for 1983-84 because there were almost no

standard errors from which to develop the appropriate conversion factor.

S
34

showed a similar pattern, with only the difference between 1983-84

and fall 1989 for writing courses statistically significant. Thus, for

any remedial courses, remedial writing courses, and remedial

mathematics courses, there were no significant changes between 1983-

84 and fall 1995 in the percentage of institutions offering such

courses. The percentage of institutions offering remedial reading

courses showed a significant decrease from 1983-84 to both fall 1989

and fall 1995.

Table 15.--Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses, mean number of

different remedial courses offered, percent of freshmen enrolled in remedial courses, and

percent of institutions giving elective degree or institutional credit for remedial courses in

academic year 1983-84, fall 1989, and fall 1995

Item

Academic

year

1983-84

Fall

1989

Fall

1995

Percent of institutions offering remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses ................................. 82 74 78

Percent of institutions offering remedial reading courses ........................................................................ 66 58 57

Percent of institutions offering remedial writing courses......................................................................... 73 65 71

Percent of institutions offering remedial mathematics courses ................................................................ 71 68 72

Mean number of different remedial reading courses................................................................................ 1.9 1.9 2.1

Mean number of different remedial writing courses................................................................................ 1.8 1.9 2.0

Mean number of different remedial mathematics courses........................................................................ 2.0 2.3 2.5

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course........ * 30 29

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial reading course............................................... * 13 13

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial writing course ............................................... * 16 17

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial mathematics course....................................... * 21 24

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial reading .................................................. 25 19 15

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial reading ...................................................... 54 66 72

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial writing................................................... 25 18 17

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial writing....................................................... 53 67 68

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial mathematics.......................................... 23 15 11

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial mathematics .............................................. 52 69 71

*Statistics not estimated for that year.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response

Survey System, Survey on College-Level Remedial Education in the Fall of 1989 (NCES 91-191, May 1991); and U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, Survey on College-Level Remediation (CS 86-218, October 1986).
35

The mean number of remedial reading and writing courses did not

vary significantly across the 3 years. The mean number of remedial

mathematics courses did increase significantly from 1983-84 to fall

1995 (table 15).

In 1983-84, the percentage of freshmen enrolled in remedial courses

was computed in a different way than it was in 1989 and 1995.

Therefore, the freshman estimates for 1983-84 cannot be compared to

the freshman estimates for 1989 and 1995. However, the estimates

for 1989 can be compared to the estimates for 1995. The percentage

of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics course showed no significant change from 1989 (30

percent) to 1995 (29 percent; table 15). The percentage of first-time

freshmen who enrolled in remedial reading and the percentage who

enrolled in remedial writing also showed no significant change

between the 2 years. The percentage of first-time freshmen enrolled in

remedial mathematics did increase significantly from 1989 to 1995.

Based on the results of these three surveys, there appears to be a slight

upward trend in the mean number of remedial mathematics courses

offered and in first-time freshman enrollments in remedial

mathematics, and a downward trend in the percentage of institutions

offering remedial reading. However, aside from these isolated

findings, there does not appear to be substantial, consistent upward or

downward change in remedial education offerings or enrollments.

The three surveys also asked about the most frequent type of credit

given for remedial reading, writing, and mathematics courses.

Findings for all three subject areas showed a similar pattern, with an

increasing percentage of institutions awarding institutional credit and

a decreasing percentage awarding elective degree credit across the

years (table 15). For reading, the differences were statistically

significant between 1983-84 and fall 1995. For writing and

mathematics, the differences were statistically significant between

1983-84 and both fall 1989 and fall 1995.
36
37

6. Summary

bout three-quarters (78 percent) of higher education institutions

that enrolled freshmen offered at least one remedial reading,

writing, or mathematics course in fall 1995. Public 2-year and

high minority enrollment institutions were particularly important

providers of remedial education: all public 2-year and 94 percent of

high minority enrollment institutions offered remedial reading, writing,

or mathematics. Public 4-year institutions also were important

providers of remediation, with 81 percent offering at least one

remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course. Remedial reading

courses were offered by 57 percent and remedial writing and

mathematics courses by about three-quarters of higher education

institutions that enrolled freshmen. Almost all (99 percent) public 2-

year institutions offered remedial courses in each subject area.

Among institutions that did not offer remedial courses, the most

frequent reason given was that remedial courses were not needed by

students at the institution.

Most institutions that offered remedial reading, writing, or

mathematics courses offered one or two different courses in a subject

area in fall 1995. The average (mean) number of courses offered was

2.1 for reading, 2.0 for writing, and 2.5 for mathematics. Public 2-

year institutions offered a much higher average number of courses

than other types of institutions.

Twenty-nine percent of first-time freshmen enrolled in one or more

remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses in fall 1995.

Remedial courses in mathematics were taken by more freshmen than

were remedial reading and writing courses. There was a general

pattern of higher remedial enrollments and lower remedial pass rates

at public 2-year and high minority enrollment institutions. In general,

about three-quarters of the students enrolled in remedial courses pass

or successfully complete those courses.

At most institutions, students do not take remedial courses for long

periods of time: two-thirds of institutions indicated that the average

time a student takes remedial courses was less than 1 year, 28 percent

indicated that the average time was 1 year, and 5 percent indicated

that the average time was more than 1 year. Students were more

likely to take remedial courses for a longer time at certain types of

institutions than at others, with fewer public 2-year and high minority

A
38

enrollment institutions reporting that students take remedial courses

for less than 1 year, on average.

Remedial education services/courses were provided to local business

and industry by 19 percent of institutions that enroll freshmen.

However, among these higher education institutions, public 2-year

institutions were the primary providers of remedial services/courses to

local business and industry: half of public 2-year institutions provided

these services, compared with only about 5 percent of other types of

institutions. Most institutions that provided remedial education

services to business and industry provided remedial reading, writing,

and mathematics, and most provided services at business and industry

sites and on the campus of the institution.

A third of institutions offering remedial courses reported that there

were state policies or laws that affected the remedial education

offerings of their institution, with many more public than private

institutions reporting that they were affected. Thus, while 57 percent

of public 2-year and 40 percent of public 4-year institutions that

offered remedial courses reported that state policies or laws affected

their remedial offerings, less than 10 percent of private institutions

that offered remedial courses reported being affected. The major way

in which state policies or laws affected the remedial offerings was to

require or encourage institutions to offer remedial education. Public

2-year and public 4-year institutions were affected somewhat

differently by state policies or laws. About twice as many public 2-

year as public 4-year institutions were required to offer remedial

courses, while more public 4-year than public 2-year institutions were

discouraged from offering remedial education or their remedial

offerings were restricted.

About a quarter of institutions reported that there was a limit on the

length of time a student may take remedial courses at their institution.

Time limits on remediation were present about equally often at all

types of institutions. Time limits on remediation were set by

institutional policy at 75 percent of the institutions with time limits,

and by state policy or law at 21 percent of the institutions. Time

limits were set by institutional policy at almost all public and private

4-year institutions with such limits, while at public 2-year institutions,

state policy or law was also an important factor, with about half of the

public 2-year institutions indicating that time limits were set by state

policy or law.
39

7. Survey Methodology

and Data Reliability

Postsecondary

Education Quick

Information System

he Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS)

was established in 1991 by the National Center for Education

Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. PEQIS is designed to

conduct brief surveys of postsecondary institutions or state higher

education agencies on postsecondary education topics of national

importance. Surveys are generally limited to two or three pages of

questions, with a response burden of about 30 minutes per respondent.

Most PEQIS institutional surveys use a previously recruited,

nationally representative panel of institutions. The sampling frame for

the PEQIS panel recruited in 1992 was constructed from the 1990-91

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Institutional Characteristics file. Institutions eligible for the PEQIS

frame for the panel recruited in 1992 included 2-year and 4-year

(including graduate-level) institutions (both institutions of higher

education and other postsecondary institutions), and less-than-2-year

institutions of higher education located in the 50 states, the District of

Columbia, and Puerto Rico: a total of 5,317 institutions.

The PEQIS sampling frame for the panel recruited in 1992 was

stratified by instructional level (4-year, 2-year, less-than-2-year),

control (public, private nonprofit, private for-profit), highest level of

offering (doctor's/first professional, master's, bachelor's, less than

bachelor's), total enrollment, and status as either an institution of

higher education or other postsecondary institution. Within each of

the strata, institutions were sorted by region (Northeast, Southeast,

Central, West), whether the institution had a relatively high minority

enrollment, and whether the institution had research expenditures

exceeding $1 million. The sample of 1,665 institutions was allocated

to the strata in proportion to the aggregate square root of full-timeequivalent enrollment. Institutions within a stratum were sampled

with equal probabilities of selection. During panel recruitment, 50

institutions were found to be ineligible for PEQIS, primarily because

they had closed or offered just correspondence courses. The final

unweighted response rate at the end of PEQIS panel recruitment in

spring 1992 was 98 percent (1,576 of the 1,615 eligible institutions).

The weighted response rate for panel recruitment was 96 percent.

T
40

Each institution in the PEQIS panel was asked to identify a campus

representative to serve as survey coordinator. The campus

representative facilitates data collection by identifying the appropriate

respondent for each survey and forwarding the questionnaire to that

person.

Sample and

Response Rates

The sample for this survey consisted of two-thirds of the 2-year and

4-year (including graduate-level) higher education institutions in the

PEQIS panel, for a sample of 849 institutions. In late September

1995, questionnaires (see appendix B) were mailed to the PEQIS

coordinators at the institutions. Coordinators were told that the

survey was designed to be completed by the person at the institution

most knowledgeable about the institution’s remedial education

courses.

Two institutions were found to be out of the scope of the survey

because they were closed, leaving 847 eligible institutions. These 847

institutions represent the universe of approximately 3,450 2-year and

4-year (including graduate-level) higher education institutions in the

50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, including

institutions that do not enroll freshmen. Telephone followup of

nonrespondents was initiated in late October 1995; data collection and

clarification was completed in late January 1996. For the eligible

institutions that received surveys, an unweighted response rate of 94

percent (797 responding institutions divided by the 847 eligible

institutions in the sample) was obtained. The weighted response rate

for this survey was 96 percent. The unweighted overall response rate

was 92 percent (97.6 percent panel recruitment participation rate

multiplied by the 94.1 percent survey response rate). The weighted

overall response rate was 92 percent (96.1 percent weighted panel

recruitment participation rate multiplied by the 95.7 percent weighted

survey response rate).

Weighted item nonresponse rates ranged from 0 percent to 4.9

percent, except for retention of freshmen enrolled in remedial courses,

which had a nonresponse rate of 8.5 percent. Item nonresponse rates

for most items were less than 1 percent. Because the item

nonresponse rates were so low, imputation for item nonresponse was

not implemented.
41

Sampling and

Nonsampling

Errors

The response data were weighted to produce national estimates (see

table 16). Since all analyses of the data included only those

institutions that enroll freshmen, the number of respondents and the

national estimates presented in table 16 represent higher education

institutions that enroll freshmen, rather than all higher education

institutions. The weights were designed to adjust for the variable

probabilities of selection and differential nonresponse. The findings in

this report are estimates based on the sample selected and,

consequently, are subject to sampling variability.

Table 16.--Number and percent of higher education institutions in the study that enroll freshmen, and

the estimated number and percent in the nation, by institutional characteristics: 1995

Institutional Respondents National estimate*

characteristic Number Percent Number Percent

All institutions ................... 750 100 3,060 100

Type

Public 2-year.......................... 248 33 950 31

Private 2-year......................... 49 7 350 11

Public 4-year.......................... 222 30 550 18

Private 4-year......................... 231 31 1,200 39

Minority enrollment

High ....................................... 98 13 340 11

Low........................................ 652 87 2,720 89

*Data presented in all tables are weighted to produce national estimates. The sample was selected with probabilities proportionate to the square root of

full-time-equivalent enrollment. Institutions with larger full-time-equivalent enrollments have higher probabilities of inclusion and lower weights.

The weighted numbers of institutions have been rounded to the nearest 10.

NOTE: Data are for higher education institutions in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico that enroll freshmen. Percents may not

sum to 100 and numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.

The survey estimates are also subject to nonsampling errors that can

arise because of nonobservation (nonresponse or noncoverage) errors,

errors of reporting, and errors made in data collection. These errors

can sometimes bias the data. Nonsampling errors may include such

problems as misrecording of responses; incorrect editing, coding, and

data entry; differences related to the particular time the survey was

conducted; or errors in data preparation. While general sampling

theory can be used in part to determine how to estimate the sampling

variability of a statistic, nonsampling errors are not easy to measure

and, for measurement purposes, usually require that an experiment be
42

conducted as part of the data collection procedures or that data

external to the study be used.

To minimize the potential for nonsampling errors, the questionnaire

was pretested with respondents at institutions like those that completed

the survey. During the design of the survey and the survey pretest, an

effort was made to check for consistency of interpretation of questions

and to eliminate ambiguous items. The questionnaire and instructions

were extensively reviewed by the National Center for Education

Statistics and the Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of

Education. Manual and machine editing of the questionnaire

responses were conducted to check the data for accuracy and

consistency. Cases with missing or inconsistent items were

recontacted by telephone. Data were keyed with 100 percent

verification.

Variances The standard error is a measure of the variability of estimates due to

sampling. It indicates the variability of a sample estimate that would

be obtained from all possible samples of a given design and size.

Standard errors are used as a measure of the precision expected from

a particular sample. If all possible samples were surveyed under

similar conditions, intervals of 1.96 standard errors below to 1.96

standard errors above a particular statistic would include the true

population parameter being estimated in about 95 percent of the

samples. This is a 95 percent confidence interval. For example, the

estimated percentage of institutions reporting that the institution

offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course

is 77.6 percent, and the estimated standard error is 1.7 percent. The

95 percent confidence interval for the statistic extends from [77.6 -

(1.7 times 1.96)] to [77.6 + (1.7 times 1.96)], or from 74.3 to 80.9

percent. Tables of standard errors for each table and figure in the

report are provided in appendix A.

Estimates of standard errors were computed using a technique known

as jackknife replication. As with any replication method, jackknife

replication involves constructing a number of subsamples (replicates)

from the full sample and computing the statistic of interest for each

replicate. The mean square error of the replicate estimates around the

full sample estimate provides an estimate of the variances of the

statistics.8 To construct the replications, 51 stratified subsamples

of the full sample were created and then dropped one at a time to

 

8

 K. Wolter. Introduction to Variance Estimation, Springer-Verlag, 1985.
43

define 51 jackknife replicates.9 A computer program (WesVarPC),

distributed free of charge by Westat, Inc., through the Internet, was

used to calculate the estimates of standard errors. WesVarPC is a

stand-alone Windows application that computes sampling errors for a

wide variety of statistics (totals, percents, ratios, log-odds ratios,

general functions of estimates in tables, linear regression parameters,

and logistic regression parameters).

The test statistics used in the analysis were calculated using the

jackknife variances and thus appropriately reflected the complex

nature of the sample design. In particular, an adjusted chi-square test

using Satterthwaite's approximation to the design effect was used in

the analysis of the two-way tables.10 Finally, Bonferroni adjustments

were made to control for multiple comparisons where appropriate.

For example, for an "experiment-wise" comparison involving g

pairwise comparisons, each difference was tested at the 0.05/g

significance level to control for the fact that g differences were

simultaneously tested.

The percentage of institutions offering remedial education as

estimated by this PEQIS survey is about the same as the percentage of

institutions offering remedial instructional services as estimated from

the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)

Institutional Characteristics Survey. This PEQIS survey estimated

that 78 percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen

offered at least one remedial reading, writing, or mathematics course

in fall 1995. IPEDS estimated that 79 percent of higher education

institutions offered remedial instructional services in academic year

1993-94.11

Estimates of the percentage of students in remedial education vary

depending upon whether data are reported by institutions or are

student self-reports. This PEQIS survey, which uses data reported by

institutions, estimated that 29 percent of first-time freshmen were

enrolled in remedial reading, writing, or mathematics, with estimates

of 13 percent enrolled in reading, 17 percent in writing, and 24

 

9

 Ibid, 183.

10

 For example, see D. Rao and A. Scott. "On Chi-square Tests for Multi-way Contingency Tables

with Cell Proportions Estimated from Survey Data," Annals of Statistics 12 (1984): 46-60.

11

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Characteristics of the

Nation’s Postsecondary Institutions: Academic Year 1993-94. NCES 94-388. 1994.

Washington, DC.

Comparison With

Other Estimates of

Remedial Education
44

percent in mathematics. Data from other institutional surveys are

fairly similar to the PEQIS estimates. A recent study by the American

Council on Education (ACE) found that an average of 33 percent of

first-year undergraduates needed remedial work in mathematics and

27 percent needed remedial work in English in fall 1994.12 An earlier

study conducted by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB)

in member states estimated that an average of 36 percent of first-time

freshmen needed remedial instruction in 1986.13 It should be noted

that the ACE and SREB studies asked about the percentage of

freshmen needing remediation and not about the percentage of

freshmen actually enrolled in remedial courses.

Estimates of remedial enrollments from student self-reports are quite

different. The 1993 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study

estimated that 17 percent of first-year undergraduates at higher

education institutions reported taking remedial courses during

academic year 1992-93, with estimates of 7 percent for reading, 6

percent for writing, and 10 percent for mathematics.14

Postsecondary transcripts provide another way to examine remedial

enrollments. A recent publication from the U.S. Department of

Education (The New College Course Map15) examined course taking

by postsecondary students based on the transcripts collected during

two national longitudinal studies. The National Longitudinal Study of

the High School Class of 1972 provided information about student

course taking at postsecondary institutions from 1972 to 1984. The

High School and Beyond/Sophomores study provided information

about postsecondary experiences from 1981 to 1993. According to

The New College Course Map, the percentage of students earning

postsecondary credits in all remedial courses (English, precollegiate

mathematics, and basic study skills) has stayed constant across both

studies at 46 percent of students who earned more than 10

postsecondary credits. This report also notes that community colleges

provide the bulk of remedial courses.

 

12 Elaine El-Khawas. Campus Trends 1995. American Council on Education. 1995.

Washington, DC.

13

 Ansley Abraham. Remedial Education in College: How Widespread Is It? No. 24. Southern

Regional Education Board. 1988. Atlanta, Georgia.

14

 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 1993 National

Postsecondary Student Aid Study, unpublished tabulations, June 1996.

15 Clifford Adelman. The New College Course Map and Transcript Files. U.S. Department of

Education. 1995. Washington, D.C.
45

There are many differences in methodologies and populations of

interest in these various studies. In particular, the NPSAS estimates

were student self-reports, while the other data were obtained from

institutional respondents and records. Since the PEQIS study was

designed to obtain estimates from institutional respondents about

remedial enrollments and was not designed as a comparative study, the

reasons for differences in the estimates from these various sources

cannot be answered with the available data.

Background

Information

The survey was performed under contract with Westat, Inc., using the

Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS). This is

the sixth PEQIS survey to be conducted. Westat's Project Director

was Elizabeth Farris, and the Survey Manager was Laurie Lewis.

Bernie Greene was the NCES Project Officer. The data were

requested by the Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the Under

Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.

This report was reviewed by the following individuals:

Outside NCES

• Elizabeth Eisner, Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the

Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education

• Kent Phillippe, American Association of Community Colleges

• Meredith Ludwig, American Association of State Colleges and

Universities

Inside NCES

• Michael Cohen, Statistical Standards and Services Group

• Mary Frase, Data Development and Longitudinal Studies Group

• James Houser, Data Development and Longitudinal Studies

Group

• Paula Knepper, Data Development and Longitudinal Studies

Group

• Edith McArthur, Data Development and Longitudinal Studies

Group

• Peter Stowe, Surveys and Cooperative Systems Group

For more information about the Postsecondary Education Quick

Information System or the Survey on Remedial Education in Higher

Education Institutions, contact Bernie Greene, Data Development and

Longitudinal Studies Group, National Center for Education Statistics,

Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 555 New Jersey

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20208-5651, telephone (202) 219-

1366.
46
A-1

Appendix A

Tables of Standard Errors
A-2
A-3

Table 1a.--Standard errors: Institutions offering remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics

Number of

higher

Percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen that

offer remedial courses in:

Institutional characteristic education

institutions with

freshmen

Reading, writing,

or mathematics

Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 48.2 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6

Type

Public 2-year...................... 20.2 -- 0.7 0.5 0.5

Private 2-year..................... 31.1 6.8 5.5 6.8 7.0

Public 4-year...................... 14.9 2.6 3.1 2.7 2.7

Private 4-year..................... 43.2 3.9 2.7 4.2 3.5

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 35.8 2.0 3.1 3.4 2.1

Low.................................... 64.8 1.9 1.7 1.8 1.7

--Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 100 percent.

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-4

Table 2a.--Standard errors: Mean number of remedial courses offered in fall 1995, by subject area

and institutional characteristics

Institutional characteristic Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 0.07 0.06 0.07

Type

Public 2-year...................... 0.09 0.09 0.13

Private 2-year..................... (#) 0.10 0.08

Public 4-year...................... 0.06 0.06 0.08

Private 4-year..................... 0.07 0.09 0.08

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 0.14 0.16 0.14

Low.................................... 0.07 0.06 0.08

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-5

Table 3a.--Standard errors: Freshman remedial enrollment in fall 1995, by subject area and

institutional characteristics

Number of Percent of all entering first-time freshmen that enrolled in remedial courses in:

Institutional characteristic

first-time

freshmen

(in thousands)

Reading, writing,

or mathematics

Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 31.4 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.8

Type

Public 2-year...................... 24.6 1.4 1.0 1.0 1.3

Private 2-year..................... 6.4 5.4 2.5 5.3 4.8

Public 4-year...................... 15.7 1.2 0.8 0.9 1.1

Private 4-year..................... 14.8 1.6 1.2 1.3 1.4

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 33.1 2.0 1.7 1.7 2.0

Low.................................... 35.2 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.8

NOTE: Standard errors are computed on unrounded numbers.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-6

Table 4a.--Standard errors: Perceptions of change in the number of students enrolled in remedial

courses at the institution in the last 5 years, by institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Increased Stayed about the same Decreased

All institutions ..................... 2.5 2.6 1.5

Type

Public 2-year............................ 3.6 3.5 1.7

Private 2-year........................... 8.2 9.0 5.6

Public 4-year............................ 3.3 3.3 2.4

Private 4-year........................... 4.1 5.0 4.1

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 5.2 5.4 3.7

Low.......................................... 2.9 2.8 1.6

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-7

Table 5a.--Standard errors: Approximate average length of time a student takes remedial courses at

the institution, by institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Less than 1 year 1 year More than 1 year

All institutions ..................... 1.5 1.5 0.9

Type

Public 2-year............................ 3.5 3.3 2.0

Private 2-year........................... 2.4 2.4 --

Public 4-year............................ 3.6 3.3 1.7

Private 4-year........................... 3.5 3.1 1.0

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 6.3 6.6 3.2

Low.......................................... 1.7 1.4 1.1

--Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-8

Table 6a.--Standard errors: Mean percent of students generally passing or successfully completing

remedial courses, by subject area and institutional characteristics: 1995

Institutional characteristic Reading Writing Mathematics

All institutions............... 1.0 0.7 0.8

Type

Public 2-year...................... 1.2 0.9 0.9

Private 2-year..................... (#) 3.3 3.3

Public 4-year...................... 1.4 0.9 1.4

Private 4-year..................... 2.6 1.3 1.7

Minority enrollment

High ................................... 2.8 2.5 2.2

Low.................................... 0.9 0.6 0.8

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-9

Table 7a.--Standard errors: Most frequent form of credit given for remedial courses in fall 1995,

by subject area and institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

Degree

credit,

subject

Degree

credit,

elective

Institutional

credit

No

credit

All institutions . 1.1 1.6 2.7 1.7 1.0 1.4 2.4 1.8 1.1 1.4 2.4 2.0

Type

Public 2-year......... 0.6 1.8 2.6 2.2 0.6 1.8 2.6 2.2 0.6 1.7 2.5 2.4

Private 2-year........ (#) (#) (#) (#) 7.8 2.2 10.4 8.6 7.6 2.2 10.4 8.5

Public 4-year......... 1.6 3.4 4.5 2.8 2.8 2.7 3.8 2.6 2.5 2.4 3.6 2.4

Private 4-year........ 2.2 4.0 5.5 4.4 1.7 2.6 4.0 3.6 2.6 3.8 5.1 4.8

Minority enrollment

High ...................... 2.1 1.2 6.0 6.0 2.1 1.2 6.3 6.3 2.0 1.1 5.8 5.7

Low....................... 1.3 1.9 2.8 1.5 1.1 1.6 2.4 1.6 1.3 1.7 2.5 1.7

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-10

Table 8a.--Standard errors: Most frequent requirement status for remedial courses in fall 1995,

by subject area and institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional characteristic

Required

Recommended

but not required Required

Recommended

but not required Required

Recommended

but not required

All institutions ................... 2.6 2.6 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.2

Type

Public 2-year.......................... 3.6 3.6 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.3

Private 2-year......................... (#) (#) 10.6 10.6 10.7 10.7

Public 4-year.......................... 4.4 4.4 2.6 2.6 2.5 2.5

Private 4-year......................... 4.0 4.0 3.2 3.2 2.6 2.6

Minority enrollment

High ....................................... 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.4 4.8 4.8

Low........................................ 2.8 2.8 2.0 2.0 2.2 2.2

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
Table 9a.--Standard errors: Usual selection approach for remedial courses in fall 1995, by subject area and institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

All entering

students

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria

given

placement

tests to

determine

need

Entering

students

who meet

various

criteria are

required or

encouraged

to enroll

Other

selection

approach

 All institutions.. 2.6 2.4 1.6 1.4 2.6 2.3 1.2 1.5 2.6 2.3 1.1 1.2

Type

Public 2-year....... 3.3 3.2 1.3 1.8 3.8 3.1 0.8 1.8 3.8 3.1 0.8 1.8

Private 2-year...... (#) (#) (#) (#) 8.2 7.6 -- 4.3 7.2 6.4 -- 4.0

Public 4-year....... 4.7 5.0 3.1 2.5 4.2 3.4 2.3 2.0 3.8 3.5 1.8 1.2

Private 4-year...... 6.8 5.3 4.9 3.8 5.3 5.1 4.0 2.4 4.8 4.0 3.6 2.2

Minority enrollment

High.................... 7.1 7.2 1.1 1.6 7.6 7.6 1.1 1.5 6.6 6.6 1.7 1.1

Low..................... 2.8 2.6 1.8 1.7 2.9 2.6 1.4 1.7 2.8 2.4 1.2 1.4

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

--Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
Table 10a.--Standard errors: Location within the institution of the most frequent providers of remedial education in fall 1995,

by subject area and institutional characteristics

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses in the subject)

Reading Writing Mathematics

Institutional

characteristic

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

Separate

remedial

division

Traditional

academic

department

Learning

center

Other

 All institutions 2.8 2.8 1.9 0.7 2.0 2.2 1.3 0.7 2.1 2.5 1.5 0.7

Type

Public 2-year ...... 3.2 3.4 2.1 1.0 2.9 3.2 2.1 1.0 3.0 3.3 2.0 1.0

Private 2-year ..... (#) (#) (#) (#) 3.3 4.9 4.0 1.8 3.3 4.9 3.9 1.8

Public 4-year ...... 4.3 4.3 1.7 1.1 3.1 3.7 1.8 0.9 3.0 3.4 1.6 0.9

Private 4-year ..... 6.5 4.8 6.0 0.4 4.4 4.4 3.0 0.9 4.3 4.3 2.9 0.9

Minority enrollment

High.................... 6.8 7.3 6.0 0.4 7.0 7.2 6.3 0.4 6.6 7.4 5.6 1.0

Low .................... 2.6 2.6 1.6 0.8 1.8 2.2 1.3 0.8 1.7 2.4 1.5 0.8

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on Remedial Education in Higher Education

Institutions, 1995.
A-13

Table 11a.--Standard errors: Institutions offering any English as a second language (ESL) for

college students, and whether the ESL courses are considered to be remedial courses, by

institutional characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions enrolling freshmen)

Institutional

Offer English

as a second

Whether ESL courses are considered remedial

characteristic language for

college students

All ESL courses

are remedial

Some ESL courses

are remedial

No ESL courses

are remedial

All institutions ................... 2.0 2.4 2.2 2.6

Type

Public 2-year.......................... 2.4 4.1 3.5 2.9

Private 2-year......................... 5.1 (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year.......................... 3.5 3.8 3.0 3.6

Private 4-year......................... 4.0 4.5 4.4 5.2

Minority enrollment

High ....................................... 6.8 7.2 6.7 5.3

Low........................................ 2.0 2.3 2.4 2.8

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-14

Table 12a.--Standard errors: Times when remedial courses are offered, by institutional

characteristics: 1995

(Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses)

Institutional characteristic Daytime Evenings Weekends Summer session Other

All institutions ..................... 0.4 2.4 1.2 2.4 0.7

Type

Public 2-year............................ -- 2.7 2.3 2.6 1.0

Private 2-year........................... 3.9 9.2 5.0 11.4 4.0

Public 4-year............................ 0.9 4.2 1.8 3.6 1.8

Private 4-year........................... 0.8 4.1 2.9 3.7 1.0

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 0.8 5.8 6.6 7.1 2.3

Low.......................................... 0.5 2.6 1.1 2.6 0.7

--Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 100 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-15

Table 13a.--Standard errors: Whether state policies or laws affect higher education institutions’

remedial education offerings, and how those policies or laws affect remedial offerings, by

institutional characteristics: 1995

State policies or laws

affect remedial

How state policies or laws affect remedial offerings

Institutional characteristic offerings at

institutions offering

remedial courses

Required to

offer

Encouraged to

offer

Discouraged

from offering

Offerings are

restricted

Other

All institutions ............. 1.9 3.8 2.3 1.0 2.0 2.0

Type

Public 2-year.................... 3.2 3.6 3.1 0.6 1.7 2.3

Private 2-year................... 2.0 (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year.................... 3.6 4.9 4.9 3.6 3.9 3.7

Private 4-year................... 2.4 (#) (#) (#) (#) (#)

Minority enrollment

High ................................. 5.3 6.5 6.8 2.7 4.8 3.2

Low.................................. 2.0 4.2 2.6 0.8 1.7 2.4

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-16

Table 14a.--Standard errors: Limitation on the length of time a student may take remedial courses at

the higher education institution, and how the time limit on remediation is set, by

institutional characteristics: 1995

Institutional

Length of remediation is

limited at institutions

How time limit on remediation is set*

characteristic offering remedial

courses

State policy or law Institutional policy Other

All institutions ..................... 2.1 3.2 3.4 1.4

Type

Public 2-year............................ 3.2 7.5 7.2 3.4

Private 2-year........................... 10.4 (#) (#) (#)

Public 4-year............................ 3.6 2.5 2.5 --

Private 4-year........................... 3.9 1.2 1.4 0.6

Minority enrollment

High ......................................... 6.6 6.5 7.5 4.9

Low.......................................... 2.0 3.6 3.8 1.4

(#) Too few cases for a reliable estimate.

--Estimate of standard error is not derived because it is based on a statistic estimated at 0 percent.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
A-17

Table 15a.--Standard errors: Percent of higher education institutions offering remedial courses,

mean number of different remedial courses offered, percent of freshmen enrolled in

remedial courses, and percent of institutions giving elective degree or institutional credit

for remedial courses in academic year 1983-84, fall 1989, and fall 1995

Item

Academic

year

1983-84

Fall

1989

Fall

1995

Percent of institutions offering remedial reading, writing, or mathematics courses .......................... 2.4 2.1 1.7

Percent of institutions offering remedial reading courses ................................................................. 2.2 2.3 1.6

Percent of institutions offering remedial writing courses.................................................................. 1.7 2.2 1.6

Percent of institutions offering remedial mathematics courses ......................................................... 2.2 2.2 1.6

Mean number of different remedial reading courses......................................................................... 0.09 0.12 0.07

Mean number of different remedial writing courses......................................................................... 0.08 0.08 0.06

Mean number of different remedial mathematics courses................................................................. 0.09 0.11 0.07

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial reading, writing, or mathematics

course .............................................................................................................................................. * 1.4 0.8

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial reading course........................................ * 0.7 0.5

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial writing course ........................................ * 0.8 0.6

Percent of first-time freshmen who enrolled in a remedial mathematics course................................ * 1.0 0.8

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial reading ........................................... 2.2 2.2 1.6

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial reading ............................................... 3.8 3.8 2.7

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial writing............................................ 2.0 2.0 1.4

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial writing................................................ 2.2 2.9 2.4

Percent of institutions giving elective degree credit in remedial mathematics................................... 2.0 2.0 1.4

Percent of institutions giving institutional credit in remedial mathematics ....................................... 3.4 2.7 2.4

*Statistics not estimated for that year.

NOTE: For 1983-84 and 1989, standard errors were available only on selected items. To determine the standard errors for the remaining items, the

ratios of the known standard errors from the 1989 survey to the corresponding standard errors from the 1995 survey were computed. Then the average

of the ratios based on standard errors for all institutions was calculated to obtain a conversion factor. The standard errors for 1989 were obtained by

multiplying the corresponding 1995 standard error by this conversion factor. For the 1983-84 survey, the conversion factor was obtained by

multiplying the 1989 conversion factor by the square root of the ratio of the 1989 to 1983-84 sample sizes. This approach was used for 1983-84

because there were almost no standard errors from which to develop the appropriate conversion factor.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995; U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response

Survey System, Survey on College-Level Remedial Education in the Fall of 1989 (NCES 91-191, May 1991); and U.S. Department of Education,

National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Response Survey System, Survey on College-Level Remediation (CS 86-218, October 1986).
A-18

Table 17.--Standard errors for the figures and for data not shown in tables: 1995

Item Estimate Standard error

Figure 1: Percent of institutions offering various number of different remedial courses

Reading: 1 course.......................................................................................................................... 41 2.2

Reading: 2 courses........................................................................................................................ 34 2.8

Reading: 3 or 4 courses................................................................................................................. 19 2.2

Reading: 5 or more courses........................................................................................................... 7 0.9

Writing: 1 course ......................................................................................................................... 53 1.8

Writing: 2 courses......................................................................................................................... 26 1.6

Writing: 3 or 4 courses.................................................................................................................. 14 1.4

Writing: 5 or more courses............................................................................................................ 6 0.8

Mathematics : 1 course ................................................................................................................. 40 2.4

Mathematics : 2 courses................................................................................................................ 24 2.1

Mathematics : 3 or 4 courses......................................................................................................... 24 1.6

Mathematics : 5 or more courses................................................................................................... 13 1.2

Figure 2: Percent of all freshmen and freshmen enrolled in remedial courses retained

to their second year

All freshmen: 1-49 percent retained .............................................................................................. 15 1.9

All freshmen: 50-74 percent retained ............................................................................................ 53 2.8

All freshmen: 75-100 percent retained .......................................................................................... 32 2.7

Remedial freshmen: 1-49 percent retained .................................................................................... 24 2.7

Remedial freshmen: 50-74 percent retained .................................................................................. 53 2.6

Remedial freshmen: 75-100 percent retained ................................................................................ 23 2.2

Figure 3: Percent of institutions with various reasons remedial courses were not offered

Remedial courses were not needed................................................................................................ 66 4.8

Institutional policy does not allow remedial courses...................................................................... 27 4.1

Students who need remediation take it elsewhere.......................................................................... 22 5.5

State policy or law does not allow remedial courses...................................................................... 5 1.4

Other reasons................................................................................................................................ 9 2.6

Figure 4: Percent of institutions with restrictions on regular academic courses

Reading: no restrictions................................................................................................................. 33 2.7

Reading: some restrictions ............................................................................................................ 65 2.6

Reading: totally restricted ............................................................................................................. 2 0.8

Writing: no restrictions ................................................................................................................. 29 1.9

Writing: some restrictions............................................................................................................. 69 1.8

Writing: totally restricted .............................................................................................................. 2 0.6

Mathematics : no restrictions ........................................................................................................ 35 2.1

Mathematics : some restrictions.................................................................................................... 64 2.0

Mathematics : totally restricted ..................................................................................................... 2 0.7
A-19

Table 17.--Standard errors for the figures and for data not shown in tables: 1995--Continued

Item Estimate Standard error

Figure 5: Percent of institutions offering remedial courses in other academic subjects

All institutions............................................................................................................................... 25 1.9

Public 2-year................................................................................................................................. 36 3.4

Private 2-year................................................................................................................................ 9 4.5

Public 4-year................................................................................................................................. 27 3.3

Private 4-year................................................................................................................................ 14 3.1

Figure 6: Percent of institutions offering remedial courses during various combinations

of time periods

Day only ....................................................................................................................................... 25 2.4

Day and evenings.......................................................................................................................... 8 1.4

Day and summer........................................................................................................................... 11 1.4

Day, evenings, and weekends ....................................................................................................... 1 0.5

Day, evenings, and summer .......................................................................................................... 37 2.4

Day, evenings, weekends, and summer......................................................................................... 16 1.2

All other combinations.................................................................................................................. 2 0.6

Figure 7: Percent of institutions providing remedial services to local business and

industry

All institutions............................................................................................................................... 19 1.4

Public 2-year................................................................................................................................. 50 2.8

Private 2-year................................................................................................................................ 5 3.4

Public 4-year................................................................................................................................. 6 1.5

Private 4-year................................................................................................................................ 4 1.5

Chapter 2, section on reasons institutions do not offer remedial courses

Percent of institutions that did not offer remedial courses in fall 1995 that had

offered remedial courses during the previous 5 years.................................................................... 18 3.8

Chapter 3, section on offering times for remedial courses

Percent of institutions offering remedial courses through distance learning .................................. 3 0.5
A-20

Table 17.--Standard errors for the figures and for data not shown in tables: 1995--Continued

Item Estimate Standard error

Chapter 3, section on remedial offerings to other institutions and to local business

and industry

Percent of institutions offering remedial courses to other postsecondary institutions

All institutions...................................................................................................................... 3 0.6

Public 2-year ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.5

Public 4-year ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.0

Percent of institutions providing remedial reading to local business/industry................................ 87 3.0

Percent of institutions providing remedial writing to local business/industry ................................ 93 2.3

Percent of institutions providing remedial mathematics to local business/industry........................ 94 1.7

Percent of institutions providing other remedial subject to local business/industry........................ 18 3.3

Percent of institutions providing remedial services at business and industry sites......................... 89 2.4

Percent of institutions providing remedial services on the campus................................................ 74 3.7

Percent of institutions providing remedial services through distance learning ............................... 5 1.4

Percent of institutions providing remedial services at other location.............................................. 3 1.0

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System, Survey on

Remedial Education in Higher Education Institutions, 1995.
B-1

Appendix B

Survey Questionnaire
B-2
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FORM APPROVED

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS O.M.B. No.: 1850-0721

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20208-5651 EXPIRATION DATE: 12/96

REMEDIAL EDUCATION IN

HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION QUICK INFORMATION SYSTEM

This survey is authorized by law (20 U.S.C. 1221e-l). While participation in this survey is voluntary, your cooperation is critical to

make the results of this survey comprehensive, accurate, and timely.

Definition of Remedial Education Courses for Purposes of This Study:

Courses in reading, writing, or math for college students lacking those skills necessary to perform college-level work at the level

required by your institution. Throughout this questionnaire, these courses are referred to as "remedial"; however, your institution

may use other names such as "compensatory," "developmental," or "basic skills," or some other term. Please answer the survey for

any courses meeting the definition above, regardless of name; however, do not include English as a second language (ESL) when

taught primarily to foreign students. Do not include remedial courses offered by another institution, even if students at your

institution take these courses.

Please answer for your regular undergraduate programs (except for question 17, which asks about services/courses to

business and industry). Use data from your institutional records whenever possible. If exact data are not available, then give

your best estimate.

AFFIX LABEL HERE

IF ABOVE INSTITUTION INFORMATION IS INCORRECT, PLEASE UPDATE DIRECTLY ON LABEL.

Name of Person Completing This Form:______________________________________ Telephone Number: _________________

Title/Position: ______________________________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU. PLEASE KEEP A COPY OF THIS SURVEY FOR YOUR RECORDS.

RETURN COMPLETED FORM TO:

WESTAT, INC.

1650 Research Boulevard

Rockville, Maryland 20850

ATTN: Lewis, 923812

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CALL:

Laurie Lewis at Westat

1-800-937-8281, Ext. 8284 or 1-301-251-8284

8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Eastern time zone

Fax#: 1-301-294-3992

The time required to complete this information collection is estimated to average 30 minutes per response, including the time to review instructions, search existing data

resources, gather and maintain the data needed, and complete and review the information collection. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate

or suggestions for improving this form, please write to: U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202-4651. If you have any comments or concerns regarding the

status of your individual submission of this form, write directly to: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20202-5574.

PEQIS Form No. 6, 10/95
1. Does your institution enroll any freshman students?

Yes .................... 1 (Continue with question 2.) No ............... 2 (Stop. Complete respondent section on front

and return questionnaire.)

2. Does your institution offer any remedial reading, writing, or math courses (as defined on the front of this questionnaire)?

Yes .................... 1 (Skip to question 5.) No ............... 2 (Continue with question 3.)

3. Which of the following are reasons that your institution does not offer any remedial courses? (Circle one on each line.)

Yes No

a. Remedial courses are not needed by students at this institution........................................................................ 1 2

b. Students at this institution who need remediation take remedial courses offered by another institution ............ 1 2

c. State policy or law does not allow this institution to offer remedial courses...................................................... 1 2

d. Institutional policy does not allow this institution to offer remedial courses..................................................... 1 2

e. Other reason (specify) _________________________________________________________________ ....... 1 2

4. Has your institution offered any remedial courses during the last 5 years? (Circle one and then skip to question 16.)

Yes .................... 1 (Date last offered:_________________________) No ............... 2

5. Enter information requested in Parts a-h for remedial courses in each subject area in fall 1995. For those subjects (reading,

writing, or math) in which you have no remedial courses, enter "no" in Part a and skip Parts b-i.

Remedial course information Reading Writing Math

a. Did your institution offer remedial courses in this subject in fall 1995?

(Enter yes or no.)

b. What was the number of remedial courses with different catalog numbers in

fall 1995? (Do not count multiple sections of the same course.)

c. What is the most frequent type of credit earned from remedial courses?

(Enter one.)

1 = Degree credit, meets subject requirements

2 = Degree credit, elective only

3 = Institutional credit (e.g., counts toward financial aid, campus housing,

or full-time student status)

4 = No credit

d. What is the most frequent type of course requirement status for students needing

remedial courses? (Enter one.)

1 = Required; 2 = Recommended but not required

e. How are students usually selected for remedial courses? (Enter one.)

1 = All entering students are given placement tests to determine need

for remediation

2 = Entering students who do not have SAT/ACT scores or who score below

a certain level on the SAT/ACT or have a GPA below a certain level

are given placement tests to determine need for remediation

3 = Entering students who score below a certain level on the SAT/ACT

or have a GPA below a certain level are required or encouraged to

enroll in remedial/developmental courses

4 = Faculty or staff refer students for enrollment in remedial/

developmental courses

5 = Students refer themselves for enrollment in remedial/

developmental courses

6 = Other (specify) __________________________________________________
5. (continued)

Remedial course information Reading Writing Math

f. While students are taking remedial courses, are there any restrictions on

the regular academic courses they can take? (Enter one.)

1 = No restrictions on regular academic courses

2 = Some restrictions on regular academic courses

3 = Totally restricted from taking regular academic courses

g. Who most often provides remedial education? (Enter one.)

1 = Separate remedial division/department

2 = Traditional academic department(s)

3 = Learning center

4 = Other (specify) __________________________________________________

h. In fall 1995, about what percent of entering freshmen enrolled in any remedial

courses in reading? writing? math? (Answer separately for each subject.)

i. In general, about what percent of students enrolled in remedial courses pass or

successfully complete the remedial courses? (Enter for each subject.)

6. Give your best estimate of the total, unduplicated percent of entering freshmen who enrolled in any remedial reading or

remedial writing or remedial math courses in fall 1995. ___________%

7. Has the number of students enrolled in remedial courses at your institution increased, stayed about the same, or decreased in

the last 5 years? (Circle one number.)

Increased ................................... 1 Stayed about the same..................2 Decreased.................................... 3

8a. About what percent of all 1994-95 full-time entering freshmen continued at your institution to the start of their second year

(1995-96)? ___________%

8b. About what percent of 1994-95 full-time entering freshmen who enrolled in any remedial courses continued at your

institution to the start of their second year (1995-96)? ___________%

9. Does your institution offer remedial courses in academic subjects other than reading, writing, or math?

Yes .................... 1 (specify subject(s)_______________________________________) No................ 2

10. When does your institution offer remedial courses? (Circle one on each line.)

Yes No

a. Day time ...................................................................................................................................... 1 2

b. Evenings...................................................................................................................................... 1 2

c. Weekends.................................................................................................................................... 1 2

d. Summer session ........................................................................................................................... 1 2

e. Other (specify)______________________________________________________________ ..... 1 2

11. Does your institution offer any remedial courses through distance learning (e.g., TV broadcast or cable)?

Yes.............. 1 No................ 2

12a. Are there any state policies or laws that affect your institution's remedial education offerings?

Yes.............. 1 No................ 2 (Skip to question 13.)

12b. How do these state policies or laws affect offerings? (Circle the one answer that best applies.)

This institution is required to offer remedial education ......................................................................................... 1

This institution is encouraged (but not required) to offer remedial education ........................................................ 2

This institution is discouraged from offering remedial education .......................................................................... 3

The remedial offerings of the institution are restricted .......................................................................................... 4

Other (specify) __________________________________________________________________________ ....... 5
13. On average, about how long does a student take remedial courses? (Circle one number.)

Less than 1 year (e.g., 1 semester or 2 quarters) ........................................................................... 1

1 year........................................................................................................................................... 2

More than 1 year.......................................................................................................................... 3

14a. Is there a limit on the length of time a student may take remedial courses at your institution?

Yes.............. 1 (Length of time: ____________________) No ............... 2 (Skip to question 15a.)

14b. How is the time limit on remediation set? (Circle one number.)

State policy or law ....................................................................................................................... 1

Institutional policy....................................................................................................................... 2

Other (specify)________________________________________________________________ .. 3

15a. Does your institution have any formal arrangements to offer remedial courses to students from other postsecondary

institutions?

Yes.............. 1 No................ 2 (Skip to question 16a.)

15b. With what types of institutions do you have such arrangements? (Circle one on each line.)

Yes No

a. Public 4-year college or university................................................................................................ 1 2

b. Private 4-year college or university .............................................................................................. 1 2

c. Public 2-year college.................................................................................................................... 1 2

d. Private 2-year college................................................................................................................... 1 2

e. Other (specify)______________________________________________________________ ..... 1 2

16a. Does your institution offer any English as a second language (ESL) courses for college students?

Yes.............. 1 No................ 2 (Skip to question 17a.)

16b. Does your institution consider these ESL courses to be remedial courses? (Circle one number.)

All ESL courses are considered remedial ..................................................................................... 1

Some ESL courses are considered remedial.................................................................................. 2

No ESL courses are considered remedial...................................................................................... 3

17a. Does your institution provide remedial education services/courses to local business and industry?

Yes.............. 1 No................ 2 (Skip questions 17b and 17c.)

17b. What subject areas are covered in these services/courses? (Circle one on each line.)

Yes No

a. Reading ....................................................................................................................................... 1 2

b. Writing........................................................................................................................................ 1 2

c. Math............................................................................................................................................ 1 2

d. Other (specify)______________________________________________________________ ..... 1 2

17c. What is the location of these services/courses? (Circle one on each line.)

Yes No

a. On the campus of this institution.................................................................................................. 1 2

b. At business/industry sites............................................................................................................. 1 2

c. Offered through distance learning................................................................................................ 1 2

d. Other (specify)______________________________________________________________ ..... 1 2

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