Remedial classes aren’t helping thousands of Michigan college students

More than a third of Michigan students enrolling in state colleges take high school-level courses that may not be doing any good.

That’s the conclusion of three separate national studies examining the level and the impact of college remedial classes.

Those studies conclude that many of the 23,000 Michigan students taking remedial courses don’t need them. And those who take the courses seldom end up with a college diploma.

A Bridge Magazine analysis projected that, by 2018, more than 37 percent of jobs will require a bachelor’s degree or more, compared to 29 percent today. While more teens are going to college, more than a third are considered unready for college-level work in at least one subject. For students attending a public university or community college, the public is, in essence, paying twice for students to learn algebra.

What are the chances your child will be asked to enroll in a remedial class in college? See how your school compares in college readiness, including the percent of students enrolling in college who enroll in remedial classes.

Senior Writer Ron French joined Bridge in 2011 after having won more than 40 national and state journalism awards since he joined the Detroit News in 1995. French has a long track record of uncovering emerging issues and changing the public policy debate through his work. In 2006, he foretold the coming crisis in the auto industry in a special report detailing how worker health-care costs threatened to bankrupt General Motors.