Colleges throughout the United States are evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies used to decide whether to place students into college-level or developmental education courses. Developmental, or remedial, courses are designed to develop the reading, writing, or math skills of students deemed underprepared for college-level courses, a…

We examine the impact of remedial and developmental courses on college students with varying levels of academic preparedness, thus focusing on a wider range of students than previous studies. Using a regression discontinuity design, we provide causal estimates of the effects of placement in different levels of remedial courses on short-,…

Earning a General Educational Development (GED) credential can have positive results in a student's life including higher wages and better job opportunities. The 2014 version of the GED exam changed the format from a paper-based test to a computer-based test. This change coincided with a 35% decline in the pass rate indicating not all students are…