Constructing Corequisites: How Community Colleges Structure Corequisite Math Coursework and the Implications for Student Success

Abstract

States and broad-access colleges are rapidly scaling corequisite coursework—a model where students concurrently enroll in college-level and developmental coursework—in response to dismal completion rates in traditional “developmental” sequences. At community colleges, evidence suggests that corequisite reforms can dramatically improve students’ completion of required college-level courses, but colleges often implement new programing and sequences with limited information. We analyzed administrative data from Texas community colleges implementing a statewide corequisite mandate. Our results illustrate (a) how colleges structured corequisite courses in response to the statewide mandate and (b) how corequisite coursework characteristics predicted student outcomes. Our results suggest that some corequisite coursework elements—including mixed-ability college-level classes, higher credits for the developmental education (dev-ed) corequisite support course, and using the same instructor across both the college-level and dev-ed course—improve students’ probability of passing college-level math, though these course design elements do not appear to predict long-term outcomes like persistence in college.