When high school seniors receive their diplomas this month, most will assume they’re ready for college. Many are not.
About one in four college freshmen — nearly 14,000 students — take remedial classes in reading, writing or math each fall, according to University System of Georgia data.
Nearly 20 high schools in metro Atlanta had at least half their 2010 graduates take remedial classes after enrolling in the University System this past fall, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis of state data.
“We are seeing more and more students underprepared for college,” said Virginia Michelich, associate vice chancellor for student achievement for the University System. “The diploma means you successfully finished high school, but some students who graduate just aren’t college-ready.”
The costs are high. The system spends about $22 million a year on remedial classes — money that could be used elsewhere as the system absorbs about $300 million in state cuts, Chancellor Erroll Davis has said.
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