Chances are, getting your high school diploma has not adequately prepared you for college. A recent study by Strong American Schools has reported that 34% of all students in public colleges need to take remedial classes.

A class is considered remedial if it is listed below the 100 level. The information in the sub-100 level classes should have been adequately learned by students while they were in high school.

The blame is being pinned on the high school system itself since four out of five students taking remedial courses in college graduated from high school with a 3.0 GPA or above. In addition to that shocking statistic, the case gets even worse as 59% of students in the survey reported that their high school classes were either somewhat easy or very easy.

So what is the impact of this under-educating of our college-bound students? First there is the impact on the students themselves. Nearly all of the students in remedial classes were under the impression that they were ready for college, as a result students are feeling frustrated with college right at the outset. That frustration shows up in graduation rates as only 19% of students who need four remedial courses or more graduate.

There is a monetary cost as well. Remedial courses cost taxpayers $1.61 to $2.01 billion dollars every year. This is essentially paying for the same education twice since the material should have been learned in high school.

So how can we make sure that more high school students are prepared for higher education? The first solution that comes to mind is increasing the rigor of high school classes. Especially since only 14% of the students in the survey thought that their high school course work was difficult at all. We can afford to make high school a bit tougher on more students. Secondly, there should be more options for students who are finding their coursework unchallenging to advance to a higher level.

The net effect of the shortcomings of America’s high schools is serious. Remedial classes are a huge road block in many students’ academic careers and they and the taxpayers are paying for it. Please reply with your insights into how we can better prepare our students for college.

Tags: College Preparation