CSU freshmen lag in math, English

San Francisco Chronicle 3/13/07

By Tanya Schevitz

Nearly 40 percent of freshmen entering the California State University system in 2006 were not ready for college-level mathematics and 45 percent of incoming freshmen were not ready for college-level English, according to a report being presented today to the CSU Board of Trustees.

In 1996, the CSU Board of Trustees said 78 percent of incoming freshmen in 2004 should be proficient in English and 74 percent proficient in math. But the percentage of high school graduates entering CSU who are ready for the college-level work has remained virtually the same over the past four years.

Officials concede "there is no realistic likelihood of achieving the trustees' goal of 90 percent readiness in both subjects by fall 2007," according to a news release from CSU.

CSU officials said that they will continue the Early Assessment Program, which tests college-bound high school juniors and gives them a chance to improve their skills in their senior year of high school instead of waiting until they get to college.

In the past, CSU had asked a small number of students who did not achieve proficiency within one year of college to transfer to community college to complete their remediation. But CSU may end that practice because many students were apparently not enrolling in community colleges and few returned to CSU a year after being disenrolled.