College Milestones
Enrollment in Gatekeeper Math: Achieving the Dream
What Is Measured?
Percentage of students who enrolled in a gatekeeper math course within three years
Who Is Counted?
First-time credential-seeking students who enrolled in Achieving the Dream colleges in fall 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007
What It Tells Us
Overall, about one-quarter (28 percent) of students enrolled in a gatekeeper math course within three years. Enrollment rates were higher among students 22 or younger (34 percent) than students 23-29 (19 percent) or students 30 or older (15 percent). Students who initially attended full time enrolled in a gatekeeper math course at a higher rate (37 percent) than students who initially attended half time (22 percent) or less than half time (12 percent). Enrollment rates were lower among students who were referred to developmental math than among students who were not (25 percent vs. 32 percent). Men and women enrolled in gatekeeper math courses at almost equal rates (29 percent vs. 28 percent), as did Pell Grant recipients and nonrecipients (28 percent vs. 29 percent).
Why It's Important
A gatekeeper course is the first or lowest-level college-level course students take in a subject such as mathematics, reading, or writing, often following completion of one or more developmental courses in that subject. Most certificate, degree, and transfer programs require students to pass gatekeeper courses in one or more subjects. Yet the largest obstacle to passing gatekeeper courses seems to be that students do not enroll in them. One study found that only 63 percent of those who finished developmental mathematics and 72 percent who finished developmental reading enrolled in gatekeeper courses for those subjects within three years of starting college. However, of those who did enroll, 79 percent passed gatekeeper mathematics and 75 percent passed gatekeeper reading.
About the Data
Gatekeeper courses: colleges chose their own "gatekeeper" courses, but the term was formally defined in the data gathering instructions to the colleges as the first college-level courses the student must take after remediation. Gatekeeper enrollment was reported by the institutions.
Achieving the Dream: includes 57 community colleges in Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia.
Data Source
Clery, S. (2011, May/June). Keeping informed about Achieving the Dream data. Data Notes, 6(3).