SJSU to tell repeating students:
Get help elsewhere.
By Lisa M. Krieger
Posted:08/12/200907:00:00 PM PDT
Updated:08/17/2009 08:28:42 AM PDT
San JoseStateUniversity has a tough message for the hundreds of students who fail pre-college math or English courses and need to take them again: You're on your own.
Because of a $41 million state budget cut, the university did not get enough funding to meet the high demand for remedial classes. So, for the first time, it is offering each student one chance to pass. Officials are drafting a letter that warns students that if they fail, they must go off-campus — to community colleges, private classes or at-home study — to master the material needed to progress toward a SJSU degree.
"If you don't pass it on the state dime, you'll have to find another way," said Dennis Jaehne, associate vice president of undergraduate studies.
Opponents of the new policy say it will hurt those who are already struggling: the low-income and ill-prepared students who fill remedial classrooms.
"I worry that if they can't afford it, they won't come back. They'll drop out," said professor Stefan Frazier, who teaches remedial writing classes. While some students fail because they don't study hard enough, others need an extra semester of review because they were ill-prepared in high school, he said.
And that highlights a frustrating dilemma: The California State University system must admit students who meet its grade-point average and coursework requirements. However, more than half the students who technically meet the requirements to be
admitted into SJSU lack the grammar, vocabulary, algebra and other basic skills needed for college-level work.
Such students must first take remedial courses to catch up — costing the CSU system $10 million annually. The courses do not count toward graduation but are required before students can take regular college lectures on Shakespeare or calculus.
Of the estimated 1,400 to 1,700 freshmen students who take remedial English each fall, between one-third and one-half typically fail and must repeat the coursework in the spring. Fewer students need to repeat remedial math.
In prior years, San JoseState had enough funding to meet the demand of both first-time and repeat remedial students. But this year, it is limiting classes.
If remedial classrooms are filled by repeat students, new incoming students would be forced to wait, said SJSU's Jaehne.
"There's not enough to go around," Jaehne said. "If we allow people to take it again, we're saying 'no' to others."
The diversion starts in spring 2010. The university is warning students now, so they realize the importance of passing the fall semester courses, which begin Aug. 20.
SJSU is not singling out remedial students, Jaehne noted. It's also pushing so-called "Super Seniors" — those who have enough units to graduate but keep taking classes — out the door.
Community colleges say they can accommodate remedial students — if they're told, well in advance, how many to expect.
"If San JoseState identifies a specific quantity of students, we can anticipate enrollment and hire additional teachers," said Norma Ambriz-Galaviz, vice president of instruction for MissionCollege in Santa Clara.
"We are willing and open to San JoseStateUniversity students," said Brian Murphy, president of De Anza Community College in Cupertino. Although budget shortfalls have also forced the college to cut some of its courses, it has preserved remedial ones.
Another CSU campus, San DiegoStateUniversity, stopped offering all remedial classwork in 2001, when the campus became overcrowded. Instead, in a special "dual enrollment" program, students are told to complete remedial coursework at local community colleges.
CSU-EastBay has no plans to change its remedial policy, and San FranciscoStateUniversity's press officer was unaware of any impending changes. However, other cash-poor public universities are also wrestling with the question. At the City University of New York, students who fail placement exams are directed to an outside company. In Washington state, legislators are debating a bill that would withdraw the state's higher education funding from all pre-college level coursework. Oklahoma charges extra fees for remedial courses.
But opponents say that sending remedial students off-campus to repeat coursework will only add to their struggles.
Remedial students typically come from poor public high schools and need scholarships or loans to study. Many are immigrants. Most hold down jobs; some help support their families.
If also enrolled in a community college, they would need to commute between two campuses, juggling different course schedules, curricula and financial aid requirements. Also, students who are late to discover a failing grade may find it hard to find a last-minute seat at crowded community colleges.
Another option — enrollment in private tutorials — is expensive, costing at least $750.
"I know many friends who failed the courses are not that rich to pay any extra," wrote student Michael Bicomong, who also had taken a remedial writing class at SJSU. "It is already hard for students to pay tuition this year since SJSU had an increase in tuition amount and how the economy is going."
Frazier, the SJSU professor, said he understands the university needs to make cuts, but he argued that rebuffing students who need to repeat coursework "goes against an age-old, honorable legacy that we can be proud of at the CSUs: access."