I know someone who teaches (or taught, I guess) remedial math at CSULB. From what I've heard, her students do seem to need the classes. A large number of the students don't show up to class, and many of those that do attend have trouble with the class and may not pass. There has been a lot of pressure from administrators to increase the pass rate.
I wasn't aware they didn't allow taking courses for credit before passing the remedial classes though. It seems to me that you could take some general Ed or major courses, but science and engineering without math requirements is hard, and humanities courses without paper writing skills is also hard.
It doesn't make any sense to me to pay CSU level tuition if you're not going to get credit if you pass the course. It would be better to redirect these students to a community college, where the costs to the students are lower, and offer a guaranteed spot for them to transfer in when they can earn credit. Some amount of connection to the CSU may help with student motivation.
I wasn't aware they didn't allow taking courses for credit before passing the remedial classes though. It seems to me that you could take some general Ed or major courses, but science and engineering without math requirements is hard, and humanities courses without paper writing skills is also hard.
It doesn't make any sense to me to pay CSU level tuition if you're not going to get credit if you pass the course. It would be better to redirect these students to a community college, where the costs to the students are lower, and offer a guaranteed spot for them to transfer in when they can earn credit. Some amount of connection to the CSU may help with student motivation.