Eric.ed.gov – What We Know about Developmental Education Outcomes. Research Overview

Many recent high school graduates who enter community college are required to take remedial or developmental education courses before enrolling in college-level courses. Developmental courses essentially reteach high school- and junior high school-level content in reading, writing, and math. In some cases, students are referred to two or even three courses of developmental education in a single subject area. The annual cost of providing remediation to community college students nationwide has been estimated at approximately $7 billion. Only 28 percent of community college students who take a developmental education course go on to earn a degree within eight years, and many students assigned to developmental courses drop out before completing their sequence and enrolling in college-level courses. A number of rigorous studies have been undertaken to assess the extent to which the traditional system of developmental education helps students into and through college-level coursework. These studies are discussed in this report.