The Cost of Remedial Education in Higher Education.

Abstract

Remedial education is currently a topic of considerable debate. Since 1995, it has been the subject of 48 newspaper articles in the nation's largest newspapers (Boylan & Saxon, 1999). Much of the reason for this attention centers on the cost of delivery. Critics argue that education costs taxpayers twice, teaching academic skills in college that students should have acquired in high school. Opponents question the use of state and federal financial aid to students for the purpose of studies. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the research that exists with regard to the cost of delivering remediation. Using the available research, those who work in this professional area can begin to examine the service they offer in light of the cost of providing it. This research base may simply provide information which can be used to measure the monetary value of efforts on a broad scale, or it may provide a basis for the formulation of a model by the individual educator to analyze the cost of delivering at the institutional level. Readers should note that this discussion has and will continue to use the terms remedial and remediation as population and profession descriptors. It is understood that the term developmental is preferred due to the more comprehensive nature with which it describes the efforts of those in this profession; however, the primary research on this topic refers to these services and the students that benefit from them as remedial, hence they will be referred to as such in this discussion. In laying the foundation for the cost analysis of education services, two points should be considered. First, there is a significant lack of ongoing cost data collection relative to these services. The reports examined in this study provide only snapshots of cost data at a certain point in time; these data are dynamic and subject to change. The data collection process is also clouded with inconsistency. Although it is informative to examine, on a case-by-case basis, the estimated costs to deliver in a particular state, one must note that these estimates are calculated using differing methodology, therefore precluding comparison of data across studies. For those who desire quantitative cost data for whatever reason, the studies reported on appear to offer that. However one must realize that when working with numerical data, the process by which calculations are derived should be questioned. Some questions that the reader might keep in mind while examining these studies may include the following: Do the numbers appear realistic relative to personal experience? Might the study be understating or overstating the cost data, and in what ways? And ultimately, is the benefit that provides worth the price that is being paid? Proposals abound on how to approach the efficient delivery of college-level remediation. Some suggestions include privatizing education services or even passing costs back to high school districts. A few states have actually relegated all to community colleges where it is assumed that its delivery may be less expensive. The available research, however, effectively shows that is a relatively small expense in higher education, especially given the size of the population that benefits from it. Whether is expensive or not is certainly debatable and probably depends a great deal more on one's philosophy of education than on the actual cost of remediation. Method The research examined in this study was collected through: (a) searches of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and ERIC Document Reproduction Service databases, (b) searches of the literature in the National Center for Developmental Education Resource Library, (c) informal consultation with nationally recognized experts in the field, and (d) searches of the LEXIS-NEXUS Academic Universe database of news media. …