This paper examines the growing remedial education burden placed on community colleges and argues that high schools must take greater responsibility for preparing students for post-secondary success. Drawing on research by Venezia and Jaeger, Thomas, Shaw, and Reis, the paper critiques the current dual enrollment model as benefiting advantaged students disproportionately while leaving underprepared students behind. It highlights non-academic factors — such as poverty, family obligations, and lack of career guidance — as key predictors of higher education outcomes. The paper advocates for earlier remedial interventions, expanded psychosocial supports, and flexible community college programming to address student diversity and close persistent achievement gaps.
Community colleges serve a distinct function in the landscape of higher education. When college classes are offered at the high school level, advantaged students tend to benefit more than disadvantaged students, further entrenching an achievement gap that plagues education (Venezia & Jaeger, 2013). As many as half of all students enter their post-secondary education programs — whether at community or four-year colleges — "without the basic skills necessary to succeed" (Thomas, 2014, p. 43). The solution to this problem is not the current model of offering optional college credit courses or dual enrollment in high school, but to expand opportunities for all students to reach their goals.
As Thomas (2014) points out, community colleges have been increasingly called upon to serve as remedial education institutions rather than functioning in the more democratic, egalitarian social spaces they could become. Instead of relegating remedial work to community colleges — thereby thwarting opportunities for two-year schools to become bastions of educational equality — high schools need to step up their efforts in providing unprepared students with the assistance they need to cultivate the competencies required for higher education.
Community colleges have evolved into "comprehensive academies serving the educational, economic, and social needs of their communities" (Reis, n.d., p. 1). To retain a positive future for community colleges, it becomes critical to reform education at the high school level and even earlier. Currently, about 60 percent of students enrolled in community colleges require at least one remedial course to succeed, and only 24 percent of enrolled students graduate from community college (Shaw, 2014). Enrollment and graduation rates in four-year university programs are more promising, with approximately 42 percent graduation rates and 20 percent of students requiring remedial coursework (Shaw, 2014).
Given the role of dual enrollment — college classes offered at the high school level — in psychologically motivating students to perform well in four-year programs, it is important to develop more opportunities for college credit in high school. Remedial coursework, when necessary, needs to be offered as early as possible.
"Poverty and motivation shape higher education outcomes"
"Dual enrollment evidence is mixed; structural reform needed"
The future of higher education is in diversity. Not all students will need or want to attend four-year institutions; many will thrive in community colleges that can help individuals find a firm footing in local business communities. Questions for further research should center on how high school and public education programs can recognize the inherent diversity in their student bodies — offering dual enrollment for students who demonstrate interest and/or aptitude for specific four-year and higher programming, while also providing appropriate remedial coursework as needed.
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