More than half of the freshmen who entered a California State University campus this year weren't ready for college-level work in math and English, according to the system's annual report on student skills.

Among the freshmen who entered CSU in fall 2003, 37 percent needed remedial courses in mathematics and 48 percent needed remedial help in English, according to the report presented Wednesday to CSU's governing Board of Trustees.

Fifty-eight percent of the system's 38,086 incoming freshmen needed remedial courses in both subjects.

The 23-campus CSU system began tracking student proficiency in 1998 as part of a pledge to reduce the numbers of incoming students who need basic courses in math, reading and writing. Officials want to reduce the number needing remediation to 10 percent by 2007.

At the current rate, CSU won't even meet an earlier benchmark that calls for reducing remediation rates in 2004 to 26 percent in math and 22 percent in English.

The numbers are based on scores on placement tests taken by incoming CSU students.

This year's remediation rates changed little from those for last year's entering class, when 59 percent required remediation in both subjects. The number needing remediation in math alone last year was 37 percent -- same as this year -- and 49 percent needed additional help in English.

The numbers of incoming students at Cal State Hayward who needed remedial help in math decreased from last year, but the numbers needing help in English jumped slightly.

Among the 550 freshmen who enrolled in Hayward in fall 2003, 43 percent needed remedial math courses and 62 percent needed the English courses.

In fall 2002, 48.5 percent needed remedial math and 60.5 percent needed remedial English at Hayward.

Still, students have made some gains over the years. In 1998, 68 percent of CSU's incoming freshmen lacked college-level math and English skills. And university statistics show that students who pass remedial courses, which can take a year's worth of study, graduate at the same rate as students who don't need the extra help.

But some CSU trustees were frustrated with the slow progress.

"I'm trying to understand what our responsibility is here," said Trustee Shailesh Mehta. "I understand it's a big problem, but we're spending money on this program and not seeing any percentage improvement year over year. I'm trying to understand the investment we're making."

Officials trace the high remediation rates, especially those in English, to a disconnect between what students learn in high school and what they're required to know in college.

The average high school grade point average of CSU students needing remediation is 3.2 and all of the students must have completed a regiment of mandated courses to qualify for admission.

Regardless of the good grades, high school students aren't receiving adequate instruction in critical reading and thus score poorly on those sections of the English placement tests, said Allison Jones, CSU's assistant vice chancellor for academic student support. A high percentage of students who aren't native English speakers adds to the problem.

Officials say low math scores are often the result of a time lag between when students finish their last math course in high school and when they take the placement test. Some students simply forget the formulas without practice.

Still, officials have a plan they say will bridge that gap and guarantee that CSU meets its goal for 2007. This spring, CSU will roll out an assessment test that will be offered to public high school juniors throughout California. The test -- consisting of 15 questions in math and English and a writing sample -- will let students know before they enter their senior year if they need to hone their skills.

"Unless we can find a way to let students know earlier in their careers that they're not prepared, we're simply not going to come close to meeting our 90 percent proficiency goal in 2007," Jones told trustees.

The test will be presented as an addendum to standardized tests students already take in 11th grade. The addendum will be voluntary for students, but college-bound juniors are encouraged to take it.

Students can take either the math or English portion, or both. Those who pass the tests won't have to retake the CSU placement exams.

Faculty trustee Kathleen Kaiser lauded the system's efforts in creating the test. She said many students -- and their teachers -- are surprised to learn they have to take remedial courses.

"This is absolutely a landslide," Kaiser said of the test. "It will not only alert the student, but you can imagine the shock of a teacher whose student got a B and then they can't pass this (placement) test."