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High School All Over Again: The Problem of Redundant College Mathematics

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  • Federick J. Ngo

Abstract

Using linked high school and college records for a national sample of students, I document the first college math courses that students take and examine how they compare with high school coursework. Detailed 12th-grade math assessment data and variation in college math course-taking allow me to estimate the extent of redundant college math experiences, when students who were identified as being able to pass a higher-level course instead took a lower-level course that they had already completed in high school. I show how redundant math is a distinct experience from college math remediation and how many students in remediation are actually in redundant courses. I also inspect patterns of math redundancy among the college-going population. Roughly one-fifth of college students take math that is redundant and likely unnecessary. This is more commonly the experience of students attending public colleges, female students, and students from lower-SES backgrounds. About 40% of students beginning college in remedial math courses do so in a redundant math course.

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  • Federick J. Ngo, 2020. "High School All Over Again: The Problem of Redundant College Mathematics," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(2), pages 222-248, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:uhejxx:v:91:y:2020:i:2:p:222-248
    DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2019.1611326
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    Cited by:

    1. Ibrahim Bicak & Lauren Schudde & Kristina Flores, 2023. "Predictors and Consequences of Math Course Repetition: The Role of Horizontal and Vertical Repetition in Success Among Community College Transfer Students," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(2), pages 260-299, March.

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