Cuts in College Remedial Courses Proposed

By Jeanne Ponessa

Two major state university systems--in California and New York--have stepped into the center of a national debate with proposals to scale back their responsibility for remedial coursework.

The board of trustees of the California State University system has proposed eliminating remedial classes for students by 2001. And a draft proposal before the trustees of the State University of New York would shift remedial classes from the system's state colleges to its locally operated community colleges.

The proposals come as educators have seen a growing need for remedial coursework for incoming college students. The most recent figures available from the National Center for Education Statistics show that nearly one-third of college freshmen took a...