Ohio's higher education policymakers are concerned with issues related to student preparation for college and degree completion. Discussions about student preparation focus on the costs of remedial courses, with the implication being that higher education costs will fall if students require fewer remedial courses. This study was designed to answer three major questions: (1) What is the current extent and magnitude of remedial course enrollment in Ohio? (2) What are the consequences of remedial course needs, in terms of student enrollment choices, degree attainment, and instructional costs? and (3) What is the impact of remedial course enrollment on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degree attainment in particular? Major findings include: (1) A high proportion (38%) of incoming freshmen take remedial coursework, but remedial courses account for only about 5% of undergraduate FTE and 3.6% of undergraduate instructional costs; (2) Additional consequences of students' poor preparation for college include lower degree completion rates and fewer students pursuing STEM majors; and (3) Non-remedial students make many academic decisions that tend to increase costs (they are more likely to enroll at four-year institutions, to choose more costly majors, and to attempt more total credits due to the greater length of their academic careers). Information regarding calculation of cost per degree is appended. (Contains 5 figures and 4 tables.)