Developmental Education Placement
Participation in Developmental Courses: New Mexico
What Is Measured?
Percentage of New Mexico community college students enrolled in developmental courses during their first academic year
Who Is Counted?
Students entering New Mexico Community Colleges for the first time in fall 2006
What It Tells Us
Some 57 percent of students in New Mexico Community Colleges enrolled in a developmental course in English/reading, math, or both during their first academic year. Some 79 percent of Pell Grant recipients and 74 percent of students who entered directly from high school enrolled in a developmental course.
Why It's Important
For students in need of developmental education, enrolling in a specific course mandated by the placement test is the first step toward advancement to a college-level program. Many students never enroll in developmental courses at the level at which they are assessed, however. Because placements are not always binding, many students enroll in higher- or lower-level courses. Some may skip courses in the remedial sequence or skip developmental education altogether. As a result, the rates at which students enroll in developmental courses provide an incomplete picture of the need for remediation. Placement information, however, is rarely available, leaving enrollment rates as the only measure for gauging students' college readiness.
About the Data
Developmental courses: include English/reading, math, or both.
First-time students: include students with no prior postsecondary experience except for college credits earned during high school or in the summer before enrolling in the fall.
Pell Grant recipient: a student who received a Pell Grant within the first year of enrollment at a given postsecondary institution.
Directly from high school: defined as students age 18 or 19 in states without linked K–12 and postsecondary data systems.
Data Source
Complete College America. (2011, September). Time is the enemy. Washington, DC: Author.