SEPTEMBER

Delaware
students
are going
to college
but are they
READY?

2014

College Enrollment: The First Step

Increasing college completion begins with
increasing college enrollmentand Delaware
is making strides on that front: In 2012,
55 percent of Delaware public high school
graduates enrolled in college immediately after
graduation (see chart at right).* And thanks to
initiatives like Getting to Zero, which provides
college-ready high schoolers with guidance

and supports to pursue higher education, this

percentage is sure to increase in the coming
years.
Still, Delawares college enrollment rate lags
behind the national average of 66 percent, and
the state faces an even larger problem: a lack
of college readiness among those who enter
college.

As a result, many first-year college students

need remediationwhich is a major obstacle
to college completion (see sidebar at right).
In 2012, more than half of the Delaware public
school graduates who enrolled in in-state
colleges were placed in remedial courses.

Remediation also is an issue of equity.

Remediation rates are highest among students
who are African American, Hispanic/Latino,
and from high-needs subgroups, including
those who are English language learners, are
from low income backgrounds, or have special
educational needs (see chart below). These
high remediation rates translate into low
college completion rateswhich ultimately
limit these students potential to succeed and
contribute to Delawares economy in the future.

Remediation rates of Delaware public high school graduates in Delaware colleges,

by subgroup, Class of 2012

79%

69%

73%

70%

53%

All students Low income

66%
43%

Special
education

English
language
learner

African
American

1%
2%

20%
14%

4%
46%

*This percentage includes graduates from traditional public, public charter, and vocational-technical schools. Data shown do not
include students who enrolled in Goldey-Beacom College or Delaware College of Art and Design. The National Student Clearinghouse
estimated that 59% of all Delaware public high school graduates from the Class of 2012 enrolled in college.

87%

12%

Did not enroll in college

Remediation: The Crack in the Pipeline

Unfortunately, not all Delaware students who
enroll in college are prepared to take collegelevel courses. In fact, only half of the Delaware
students who entered in-state colleges in 2012
met the College Boards college-readiness
benchmark by scoring 1550 or higher on the SAT.

Where Delaware public high school

graduates enrolled in college,
Class of 2012

Hispanic/
Latino

White

38%

Asian

Multi-race/
other

Percentage of
students requiring
remediation
n Delaware State University

81%

n Delaware Technical Community College

71%

n University of Delaware

18%

n Wesley College

27%

n Wilmington University

70%

n Out-of-state colleges

N/A

WHAT ARE REMEDIAL

COURSES?
Remedial courses are classes for
students who are not ready to take
college-level courses. Remedial
courses do not provide credits
toward a degree, but students still
must pay tuition (or use financial aid)
for them.
And whats more: Nationally, less
than 50 percent of students in
remedial courses actually complete
them, and only 17 percent of
remedial reading students and 27
percent of remedial math students
complete a bachelors degree.

Next Steps: Repairing the Pipeline

As Delaware works to help more of its students
enroll in college, we have the opportunityand
the obligationto help these students earn
degrees and enter the workforce. To do this,
policymakers, communities, K12 schools,
and higher education institutions need to join
forces to reduce remediation. Some promising
efforts to boost college readiness, creditearning, and completion include the following:
0 Foundations of College Math: Based on a
model that has been successful in other
states, this course was jointly developed by
K12 and college educators to prepare 12th
grade students to take college-level math
courses. After its pilot phase in 201415,

the program will expand into English

language arts/reading in the coming years.
0 Increasing access to and success in
college-level courses in high school: More
than 85 percent of Delaware graduates
who scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam
were able to enroll in college-level courses
when they entered Delaware colleges in
2012. Only 31 percent of students who
did not take an AP exam were able to do
so. Increasing access to AP coursesas
well as International Baccalaureate and
dual-enrollment coursesin Delaware high
schools will help more students avoid
remediation.

0 Common Core State Standards: The

Common Core State Standards promote
college readiness by establishing the skills
that every student should have by the time
they graduate from high school. Highquality implementation of the Common
Core in K12 schools will support Delaware
students abilities to enter college,
complete degrees, and succeed in careers.
Delaware colleges also can learn from other
initiatives to curb remediation rates around the
country, such as using score ranges rather than
a single cut score to place students in courses
and aligning math courses with students
majors.

Delawares Class of 2012: College Enrollment, Remediation, and Performance

Number of public
high school
graduates

Percentage of high
school graduates who
enrolled in Delaware
colleges

Percentage of Delaware
college enrollees who
required remediation

Average
freshman year
GPA1

Average freshman
year credit hours
earned2

8,596

39%

53%

2.24

15.3

Scored 1550 or above on

SAT3

1,744

48%

11%

2.88

28.9

Scored below 1550 on or

did not take SAT

6,852

35%

68%

1.83

8.8

Took an AP exam

2,301

50%

31%

2.61

24.3

Did not take an AP exam

6,295

33%

65%

1.98

9.7

Low income

3,654

29%

69%

1.89

10.2

Special education

1,039

19%

87%

1.66

3.9

242

36%

79%

1.47

8.1

African American

2,714

30%

73%

2.01

10.9

Hispanic/Latino

723

34%

70%

1.83

10.9

White

4,719

41%

43%

2.36

17.0

Asian

347

51%

38%

2.59

24.2

93

31%

66%

1.92

11.3

Demographics

College readiness indicators

STATE TOTAL

English language learner

Multi-race/other

1 GPA is reported on a 4.0 scale.

2 An average of 30 credit hours per year is recommended to finish a bachelors degree in four years.
3 The College Board has set an SAT score of 1550 (out of a possible score of 2400) as the benchmark for college readiness.

Learn more and get involved at delawaregoestocollege.org.