CUNY Phases Out Traditional Math, English Remedial Courses

• The City University of New York (CUNY) has now fully phased out traditional remedial courses.
• Students who need additional support with math or English courses will now be sent to classes that count toward their degree requirements.
• CUNY has been phasing out traditional remedial courses since 2016.
• Keeping students out of remedial courses means faster degree completion and higher eventual earnings, according to a recent study by Trinity College and CUNY.

Students at the City University of New York (CUNY) will no longer be sent to remedial courses that the university has deemed "outdated." They will instead have access to college-level courses that offer both credit and additional academic support.

CUNY has been phasing out traditional remedial math and English courses since 2016, according to a press release. Rather than being sent to a remedial course that doesn't count toward their degree, students will now be sent to "corequisite" courses that offer additional academic support while still counting toward their degree requirements.

Students previously had to take semester-long remedial courses that didn't count toward their degree before they could enroll in credit-bearing classes if their placement exams showed a need for additional help with math or English, according to the release. That practice disproportionately affected low-income students of color.

"Replacing the outdated remedial approach with a more effective, equitable and evidence-based system is an important advance in our ongoing mission to provide our students with educational opportunity and the support they need to succeed," CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez said in the release.

"I am also proud that these systemic CUNY changes and reforms were spearheaded by our academic leadership and faculty, and they exemplify our steadfast commitment to transforming the CUNY system to meet the current needs of New Yorkers. The elimination of traditional remedial courses on all campuses is an important milestone on this journey."

CUNY has now nixed traditional remedial courses at all 10 of its two-year-degree colleges, according to the press release.

Keeping students out of remedial courses means faster degree completion and higher eventual earnings, according to a recent study by Trinity College and CUNY.

The study found that students who took corequisite courses saw an average of between $3,000 and $4,500 more in earnings per year than their peers who were sent to remedial courses, BestColleges previously reported.

The CUNY/Trinity College study tracked more than 900 community college students beginning in the fall of 2013. Students were 50% more likely to finish their associate degrees within three years, and twice as likely to finish their bachelor's degrees within five years, if they were sent to college-level courses with academic support rather than to remedial classes.

"Corequisite coursework allows students to enter college as full members of the college community with the support they need to succeed," Daniel J. Douglas, the study lead and Trinity College's director of social science research, said in a release.