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Corequisite Courses Can Help Students Graduate Quicker and Earn More

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Community college students assigned to corequisite mathematic courses instead of remedial courses not only graduate faster, but earn higher wages.

That’s the findings of a study that has been tracking 900 community college students since 2013. The students all qualified for remedial courses, not-for-credit prerequisite courses designed to prepare a student for credit-bearing courses in the future. The 900 students were randomly placed in either a remedial course or a corequisite course.

Dr. Daniel Douglas, director of social science research and lecturer in sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.Dr. Daniel Douglas, director of social science research and lecturer in sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.Corequisite instruction allows students to take a college-level and credit-bearing course while also receiving supplemental support to ensure their success. Past studies have found that corequisite instruction improves retention, completion, and graduation rates for students regardless of their socio-economic background. This new study underscores previous findings and shows that graduating students sooner, and connecting them with the job market sooner, helps corequisite students earn higher wages.

“By shortening a student’s time to degree, their wages went up,” said Dr. Daniel Douglas, director of social science research and lecturer in sociology at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, and co-author of the study. “Students that clear school obligations can get better attached to the labor market, have a longer tenure of employment or get into more secure positions.”

Douglas said the study’s results indicate just how significant an obstacle mathematic remediation can be. By moving a student’s first-year mathematics instruction towards corequisite courses, institutions can make a dramatic difference in a student’s life.

“We could see this single intervention lead to higher rates of associate and bachelor’s degree completion, and higher wages,” said Douglas. “This is something that can have an impact for a lot longer than I would have ever expected.”

Corequisite courses do not remove remedial education, rather reform it into more targeted support while closing off what experts call “exit points” for a student, more opportunities for life to get in the way of a student’s completion.

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