The number of incoming students requiring remedial instruction at CUNY’s seven community colleges plummeted by 22 percent after the public university relaxed its placement standards, new data obtained by The Post reveal.
In the fall of 2017, 62.5 percent of incoming freshman required remedial help because they weren’t college ready.
But that’s a big improvement from the fall of 2016, when 80 percent of students were placed in remedial instruction, a rate that was consistent since the fall of 2013.
One big reason for the improved figure: Last year CUNY overhauled its remediation policies.
The key change was lowering the bar in math. Students can show they’re ready for entry-level college math courses in three ways: their scores on the SAT, their high-school performance and via CUNY’s math- placement exam.
But CUNY loosened the standard for high-school performance. Under the prior math policy, a student had to exceed the cut point on any one of the three Regents math tests (Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2) and pass the Algebra 2 course.
Under the new policy, a student no longer has to pass Algebra 2, also known as trigonometry.
Also for the first time, students who scored just below the passing cut-off score on the math-placement tests are allowed to retake the exam.
As a result, the decrease in students needing remediation was largely in math, not reading and writing.
The number of students requiring remedial math instruction plunged from 73 percent in the fall of 2016 to 52 percent in the fall of 2017.
One prominent New York educator said easing math standards doesn’t add up.
“Any diminution of standards is troubling. It’s troubling at every level if you care about young adults in New York,” said former Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch, now vice chairwoman of the SUNY Board of Trustees.
CUNY officials defended the decision to scrap Algebra 2, saying most students don’t need it for their course of study.
They also cited studies that show relying heavily on placement tests assigns too many students into noncredit remedial courses when they didn’t really need them, increasing the likelihood of their dropping out of college.
College officials acknowledged the new policy was partly responsible for fewer students being routed into remedial courses.
But CUNY and the city Department of Education also insisted high-school graduates are coming to campus better prepared.
“Due to multiple initiatives by CUNY and the DOE, more and more of our students are college- ready from the start of their college careers,” said CUNY spokesman Frank Sobrino.
Additional reporting by Sarah Trefethen