Lawmakers review need for remedial courses

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- They graduated from high school with grade-point averages of 3.0 or better, but once they get to college about 30 percent of Nevada's Millennium Scholarship winners end up in remedial courses, the Assembly Education Committee was told Monday.

Chancellor Jane Nichols of the University and Community College System of Nevada said UNLV spends $2 million a year and the University of Nevada, Reno, uses $500,000 for remedial courses for all students.

The university regents will meet in March to decide whether remedial courses will be provided by the community colleges instead of the universities.

When asked about the number of Millennium scholars in remedial instruction, Nichols at first said it was "not an insignificant number." Later she provided the 30 percent estimate.

Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas, the chairman of the committee, said 30 percent was a high figure. After the meeting, he said it may show there is grade inflation in high schools that helps some undeserving students qualify for the Millennium Scholarships.

The $10,000 Millennium Scholarships are awarded to Nevada students who graduate from high school with a B average and go on to attend college in the state. They are funded by the state's share of the nationwide tobacco settlement.

Nichols said rumors indicate that high school students are taking easier courses to qualify for Millennium Scholarships and that there may be some grade inflation. But she said those cases were "limited."

Williams asked why so many students are in the remedial courses. Nichols said part of the reason is that system is getting more students now who were not going to college in the past. But she conceded she did not have a complete answer.

She said a national study showed that 50 to 55 percent of the students attending community colleges were in remedial classes.

"That's not terribly different," from Nevada, she said.

But the figures remedial students vary widely among universities, depending on entrance requirements.

She said students who do not take math in their senior year are "certain" to be placed in remedial courses. Seniors also need to take writing and science classes to avoid ending up in remedial courses, she said.

Nichols praised the Millennium Scholarship program, started in 1999 by Gov. Kenny Guinn.

"It was an extraordinary act of courage but it places a burden on the state economy," she said.

Predictions differ as to when the state will have to start propping up the scholarship program with general fund money. The Legislative Counsel Bureau suggests it will be 2006 but state Treasurer Brian Krolicki said it will be 2010.

Nichols told the Assembly committee that the system was making progress. In the past, 37 percent of the state's high school graduates went on to college. That was near last in the nation.

Now, 49 percent of Nevada's high school graduates go to college. Federal figures offering comparisons are not out yet, she said.

Millennium Scholarships send a message to families that everyone can go to college, she said.

"The message is so powerful," she told the committee.

In giving an overview, Nichols said the focus of the system is to promote the state's economic development -- to turn out students ready to work in the business world.

The colleges are working to produce new nurses, teachers, engineers and graduates skilled in technology, she said.