Dive Brief:

• The Center for American Progress reveals that students pay more than $1.3 billion in tuition and fees each year for remedial courses which qualify them for academic credits, but do not count towards graduation. 
• California had the highest rate of out-of-pocket remedial spending with more than $205 million, while Alaskan students spent just $1.1 million, statistics generally attributed to student enrollment in these states.
• According to the survey, the majority of college students enrolled in remedial courses are ethnic minorities, including 56% of African American students and 45% of Hispanic students, compared to just 35% of white students.

Dive Insight:

This survey offers a unique perspective on why confidence in higher education is waning, and why so many families take issue with the industry at large. Too much money being spent for credits which don't count and ultimately leaving schools accountable for what is broken at secondary system levels is a system that is doomed for collapse, and bound to take students who carry the debt with it. 

What are the solutions? Offering alternative skills credentials in place of remedial education and developing articulation agreements with high schools to ease the cost burden of higher ed spending are a few of the proposals, but unless they can be delivered to the poorest and most under-resourced communities, many families will continue to feel the same burden.