The Cost of Remedial Education - Mackinac Center

The Cost of Remedial Education:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy How Much Michigan Pays When Students Fail to Learn Basic Skills
For most students, writing consists not of research, but what I call ‘I-search.’ That is,
most students are given writing exercises that ask them to tell how they feel about a
particular issue. The exercise doesn’t involve analysis or critical thinking, it just asks
students to emote. This is a great hindrance to them in the end because they never
develop any analytical skills or critical writing skills. 29
This study suggests
that the cost of
remedial education
per full-time
equivalent student
in post-secondary
schools is about 10
percent less than
the cost to produce
a “successful”
student in high
school.
Sidney Graham, chair of the Department of Mathematics at Central Michigan University,
blames the public high schools for assigning “little homework.” 30 Mitzi Chaffer, also of
Central Michigan University’s mathematics faculty, points to “lax standards in most high
schools.” 31 Steven Holder, chair of the English Department at Central Michigan, finds fault
with grade inflation in public schools. 32 Florence Harris, director of the Office of Supportive
Services at Michigan State University, describes the futility of trying to identify who is
responsible for the situation: “It’s a blame game. The colleges blame the high schools. The
high schools blame the middle schools. The middle schools blame the elementary schools.
Where does it end?” 33
What Is to Be Done?
While educators could not agree on who or what was ultimately responsible for the
widespread lack of basic skills among high school graduates, they did agree that their own
efforts significantly improved student skills. While the effectiveness of remedial education
is difficult to study, the few studies that have been conducted show that students who
participate in remedial education are significantly more successful in college than are
students who need such education but fail to enroll in the requisite courses. 34 Independent
assessments by researchers like David Breneman and William Haarlow repeat that
“remediation is surely a good investment.” 35 This study suggests that the cost of remedial
education per full-time equivalent student in post-secondary schools is about 10 percent less
than the cost to produce a “successful” student in high school.
If, as these observations suggest, remedial education is effective and relatively
cheap, there is no reason to favor curtailing it. The observation that the lack of basic skills
costs post-secondary schools and employers a great deal of money does not mean that the
money spent on it is wasteful or unnecessary. To the contrary, with more than a third of high
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30
31
32
33
34
35
Interview, February 29, 2000.
Interview, March 1, 2000.
Interview, March 1, 2000.
Interview, March 1, 2000.
Interview, March 1, 2000.
See “Developmental Education: A Twenty-First Century Social and Economic Imperative,”
League for Innovation in the Community College, The College Board, 1998.
Breneman and Haarlow, p. 20. See footnote 1.
18 September 2000