ERIC Number: EJ1252204
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Jun
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0361-0365
EISSN: N/A
Failing at Remediation? College Remedial Coursetaking, Failure and Long-Term Student Outcomes
Sanabria, Tanya; Penner, Andrew; Domina, Thurston
Research in Higher Education, v61 n4 p459-484 Jun 2020
Colleges offer remedial coursework to help students enrolling in post-secondary education who are not adequately prepared to succeed in college-level courses. Despite the prevalence of remediation, previous research presents contradictory findings regarding its short- and long-term effects. This paper uses a doubly robust inverse probability weighting strategy to examine whether the degree completion and wage outcomes associated with remedial education vary by passing or failing remedial coursework. Using the NLSY Postsecondary Transcript-1997 data, we find that almost 30% of remedial course takers fail a remedial course. Students who took and passed their remedial coursework at both 2-year and 4-year colleges were more likely to graduate from college than similar students who did not take remediation. For both 2-year and 4-year college entrants, students who failed remedial coursework were less likely to obtain a bachelor's degree and, among degree receivers, took longer to graduate. Students who entered 2-year or 4-year colleges and who failed remedial coursework earned lower wages over time compared to similar students who never took remediation. Among 4-year college entrants, these wage differences seem to be explained completely by degree completion. However, wage differences for 2-year college entrants still remain after accounting for degree receipt. Our findings thus suggest that while many students may benefit from remedial education, a substantial number of students struggle with remedial coursework and fail to realize the intended benefits.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Remedial Instruction, Two Year College Students, College Preparation, Salary Wage Differentials, Probability, Graduation Rate, Outcomes of Education, Academic Failure, Educational Attainment, Bachelors Degrees, Time to Degree, Comparative Analysis, Educational Benefits, Longitudinal Studies, National Surveys
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-348-4505; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2123/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
Grant or Contract Numbers: 5R01HD06155102; 5R24HD042849