Remedial classes are not available at Utah State University
At some Utah universities, students are concerned about the extra cost of transferring to other Utah universities when they are not meeting the minimum requirements of these institutions.
Utah State University does not offer remedial classes, which are designed to bring students who are behind up to speed on the basics of a subject, and the university does not plan to start offering remedial classes in the near future to either freshman or transfer students.
Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for undergraduate studies and research, said, “The reason we do not offer these classes is because of our high standards as an educational institution.”
It is hard to know which classes are considered remedial. Most schools draw the line at 1000-level classes and anything below is called remedial, but the designation can also depend on the level of knowledge of each student starting or transferring.
For example, USU offers CIS 1400 and Math 1010, which are classes with basic concepts of computers and math and could be classified as remedial. Students should have this basic knowledge prior to admission.
Kinkead said USU, along with the University of Utah, has the reputation of a top research university in the state and is one of the hardest higher education institutions to be accepted into and study at.
Clifford R. Skousen, a senior associate dean in the College of Business, said, “Students wishing to transfer to USU must be competent and by then master basic concepts that should have been taught and learned in high school or at another school.”
Skousen said it is hard to know which level these students are at when they transfer to USU.
Before transferring to USU, students must meet a minimum ACT score of 19 and a 2.5 GPA to be considered for admission.
“USU’s mission is to help students be well-qualified in the major they have decided before transferring to our campus,” Kinkead said. “We want to make sure that institutionally USU is a good fit for the future student. It is unethical for us to just take their tuition money when we can’t provide the educational experience that they need.”
“Having students taking remediation classes does not mean that they are less competent,” Skousen said. “But, it is better for [students] to concentrate in these particular areas at another school before transferring, [rather than] have problems or skip important learning phases of their education.”
Kinkead said, “It is obvious that an undeclared student transferring to USU will have a harder time fitting into our program and ever more if this person later decides to change majors, which may be a completely different path from their original goal.”
Skousen said the reputation of USU relies on the quality of graduates, and that education quality will determine where the graduate ends up.
“It is the personal responsibility of each individual student to get the help necessary before thinking of a possible transfer,” Kinkead said.
A number of Utah universities do offer remedial classes, such as the Salt Lake Community College, Snow College and the College of Eastern Utah.
For more information, visit ww.usu.edu/cobssc/web/transferstudents.htm.
-jiq@cc.usu.edu