If Your Students Go to College, Will They Be Ready?

Students are aware of the differences among demanding academic programs, general education programs, and vocational programs but, by choice or by placement, many do not take the college preparatory courses they need for college success.

For years, ACT has worked to convince students of the importance of a high-quality education, if for no other reason than the significant difference in income between those who have a college degree and those who don't. The average annual earnings of someone with a bachelor's degree is $40,313, but only $24,267 for someone with just a high school diploma, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (2001).

The good news is that students and their parents finally are aware of the importance. The overwhelming majority of parents want their children to go to college. Minority parents, in particular, want their children to go. And students are listening, too: 78 percent say they want to go to college. Of the 2003 ACT-tested high school graduates, as many as 68 percent went on to some form of postsecondary education in the fall following graduation.

One might expect students who plan to go to college to enroll in a college-preparatory curriculum and take the appropriate courses. Unfortunately, evidence does not support this expectation. For example, 78 percent of all 2003 ACT-tested high school graduates said they planned to earn a bachelor's degree or higher, but only 57 percent took the college preparatory core curriculum. Sixty-eight percent of these students enrolled in college the following fall term, and of this group 61 percent had taken the college preparatory core coursework.

This discrepancy between plans and high school coursework is consistent across racial, ethnic, and gender groups: 21 percent to 28 percent fewer students took the core curriculum than those aspiring to earn at least a bachelor's degree. Moreover, smaller percentages of African American, Native American, Mexican American, and Hispanic students took the core curriculum compared to Asian and Caucasian students.

Students from low-income families are less likely than students from high-income families to take core curriculum courses: 28 percent of low-income students and 65 percent of high-income students were enrolled in such curricula, according to the U.S. Department of Education (1995).

As a result, about half of the students entering college aren't prepared for credit-bearing college-level work and have to take remedial courses, according to the Department of Education (2001). Overall, more than one million entering college students take remedial courses, says R. H. McCabe in "No One To Waste" (2000). McCabe cites studies that show 20 percent of entering students are underprepared in reading, 25 percent in writing, and 34 percent in math. Students who take remedial courses are much less likely to graduate.

The students are not always to blame. Although often unspoken, there is a commonly held misconception that there are entire groups of students incapable of learning in a high-quality curriculum, and that enrolling them in a college preparatory curriculum is setting them up for failure.

More and more evidence from across the country disproves this commonly held view. Most students can meet high levels of academic performance when they are taught to high levels, beginning in elementary school or before. As the Education Trust says, "College begins in kindergarten."

ACT research has shown repeatedly that students taking a college preparatory curriculum in high school achieve higher ACT scores and are consequently more likely to be prepared for college than students who do not. Many schools and districts are getting it right, serving as models for those that still have work to do.

For example, when curriculum standards were raised in El Paso, Texas, average scores increased for all students and the achievement gap between groups decreased, according to a study cited by The Education Trust (1999).

And other studies, cited by the Southern Regional Education Board, show that as more seniors in vocational programs complete higher-level English courses, average reading scores increase.

Several studies by ACT and the U.S. Department of Education also have shown that taking rigorous college preparatory mathematics courses is associated with higher ACT Mathematics and Composite scores, and higher NAEP Mathematics scores.

Students in college preparatory programs benefit in other ways, too: They hear about preparing for college through their courses and university recruitment efforts, and through discussions with parents, counselors, teachers, and other students. Many students in mid- or lower-level courses do not get the same messages.

High school curriculum intensity and quality are strongly related to enrolling in college and completing an associate's degree or bachelor's degree. The National Commission on the High School Senior Year also speculated that taking a more demanding high school curriculum would make high school students workforce ready by graduation and better equip students to receive additional training or attend college later in life.

We've come a long way. Educators have convinced students that college is necessary. Now we just have to convince all of them to take the courses they need to succeed once they get there.