The College Fix

‘Roadblock’ for students, regent says

Kansas universities may scrap their algebra graduation requirement because too many students fail the course, NPR Kansas reported.

“About one in three Kansas students fails college algebra the first time around. Some take it several times before they pass. Others get so frustrated that they drop out altogether. And that cuts into university graduation rates,” the news outlet reported Dec. 12.

With that, the Kansas Board of Regents is considering alternative requirements such as statistics and quantitative reasoning under what’s called a Math Pathways program, it added.

“We’re sending the majority of students down the college algebra road, which is really not necessary,” said Daniel Archer, vice president of academic affairs for the Kansas Board of Regents. “It’s not practical. It’s not really needed. And it’s not relevant for their fields.”

The pathways program aims to accelerate “students’ path through developmental math and enables them to take different paths through the math curriculum depending on their course of study,” the Daily Caller reported.

According to NPR Kansas, Regent Wint Winter said investigating the new pathway program is critical because enrollment continues to decline.

“It’s incumbent on us to be aware of all the roadblocks that are out there for students … reasons why they’re leaving, reasons why they’re not graduating,” Winter said. “So I would urge us all to … find ways to find the bandwidth to keep this moving along.”

MORE: College official: Drop algebra requirement because minorities keep failing it

IMAGE: WK 1003 Mike / Shutterstock

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