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OP-ED: Support Remedial Education Reforms to Help More Students Succeed

Commentary/Op-Ed - January 2019

OP-ED: Support Remedial Education Reforms to Help More Students Succeed

Traditional remedial education has become just another stumbling block on the road to a college credential. By investing in comprehensive remedial education reform, New York State can lift up underprepared students and put thousands more on track to a brighter economic future.

by Eli Dvorkin

Tags: higher education community colleges economic opportunity human capital

One reason for the high dropout rate at New York City's community colleges: too many entering students end up in remedial education programs, which stymie progress toward a degree. But research shows that underprepared students can succeed in alternatives to traditional remediation—including staying out of remediation in the first place. In this Gotham Gazette op-ed, CUF Editorial and Policy Director Eli Dvorkin calls on New York State to support innovative efforts to reform remedial education that can put thousands of students on track to a brighter economic future.  

Read the op-ed here.

This op-ed is a continuation of the Center for an Urban Future's extensive research on higher education in New York, including the major report Degrees of Difficulty: Boosting College Success in New York City.

Photo Credit: CUNY Office of Communications and Marketing/Flickr

This op-ed was made possible thanks to support from The Clark Foundation for ongoing research on improving college access and student success. General operating support for the Center for an Urban Future has been provided the Bernard F. and Alva B. Gimbel Foundation and the Altman Foundation. CUF is also grateful for support from Fisher Brothers for the Middle Class Jobs Project.

Center for an Urban Future (CUF) is an independent, nonprofit think tank that generates innovative policies to create jobs, reduce inequality and help lower income New Yorkers climb into the middle class. For 20 years, CUF has published accessible, data-driven reports on ways to grow and diversify the economy and expand opportunity that are anchored in rigorous research, not preconceived notions about outcome. Our work has been a powerful catalyst for policy change in New York City and serves as an invaluable resource for government officials, community groups, nonprofit practitioners and business leaders as they advocate for and implement policies to address some of New York’s biggest challenges and opportunities.