Corequisite support is a way of helping students succeed in college-level gateway courses at US colleges and universities. Instead of placing students in one or more developmental courses before they can take college math or English, the institution enrolls them directly in the college-level gateway course and pairs it with aligned support in the same term. The support has a sole purpose: helping students succeed in that college-level course. So it focuses on the skills the course needs now rather than reteaching everything missed in high school. In a college catalog, a corequisite is simply a course taken at the same time as another or a special section of a college-level course with additional time built in for support; corequisite support applies that idea to student success. Colleges use it most widely in gateway math and English, and in the sciences where a prerequisite stands in the way, such as math before chemistry.

What corequisite support is

Corequisite support, at US colleges and universities, is support built around one college-level course and taken in the same term as that course. It exists for one reason: to help the student succeed in the college-level course they are taking right now. It is not a list of high school topics to work back through. The support addresses what the student needs at this point in the term, for this course, and leaves the rest alone.

That makes it a distinct kind of academic time. It is not more college-level class time, and it is not a developmental course under another name. It is intentional, built around what the college-level course demands, and flexible enough to shift when the students in the room need something different that week.

At institutions that have adopted corequisite support, it is the default way students who need support get it, rather than a standalone developmental course they must pass first. Students usually hear it described simply: extra help built into their week, with a teacher (possibly their teacher). In catalog terms, a corequisite is a course taken alongside another or a special section of a college-level course with additional support time added, whereas a prerequisite is a course that must be completed first. Reaching that default across every section and every term is the subject of corequisite support at scale.

What happens in a corequisite support course

A corequisite support course at the college level is built around the work of the college-level course it is paired with. The support is aligned to what that course demands in a given week, not to a separate syllabus. Most of the time is active: students work through problems and ideas with each other and with the instructor, rather than sitting through more lecture or using the hour as open homework time. A support session follows a repeatable structure in five parts: assess, teach, equip, scaffold, and apply. What that looks like across a term, from the first week to finals, is covered in how a corequisite course works.

Who corequisite support is for, and which courses use it

Corequisite support at US colleges and universities serves most students who would otherwise be placed below the college level. It is not reserved for students just under a placement cut-off. The vast majority of students who would once have been sent to developmental courses succeed in the college-level course with support alongside it, and only a very small share are better served another way.

In math and English, corequisite support replaces a long prerequisite sequence of developmental courses, along with the placement, advising, and registration barriers that grew up around them. In the sciences, students usually already have access to the college-level course, so corequisite support fits where a prerequisite stands in the way. The most common case is math before chemistry: a focused math-for-chemistry corequisite in place of an intermediate algebra prerequisite, which saves everyone time. Biology, including anatomy and physiology, is more often a matter of how the course itself is designed and taught and how support is embedded.

Almy Education has partnered with over 100 college and university clients to redesign gateway courses and corequisite support across math, English, and the sciences, including biology, chemistry, and anatomy and physiology, with statewide science work in Ohio and South Carolina. The five-part session structure above is Almy Education's, and it is set out in full in the corequisite implementation field guide, a free download.

How corequisite support differs from a developmental sequence

A developmental sequence at a US college places students in one or more courses below the college level that they must pass before the college-level course. The sequence delays college credit, and long prerequisite sequences lose students between courses and between terms. A poor experience in a developmental math course can lead a student to leave the college, not only the course. Corequisite support starts students in the college-level course from the first day, with the support alongside it.

What the research shows

Research on corequisite support at US colleges and universities includes statewide studies and randomized trials. In Tennessee, Ran and Lin (2022) studied the statewide move to corequisite support across all 13 Tennessee Board of Regents community colleges. Students near the placement cut-off who were placed in corequisite support were 15 percentage points more likely to pass gateway math, and 13 percentage points more likely to pass gateway English, within a year than comparable students placed in prerequisite courses. The authors attribute most of the math gain to guiding students into the math course that fits their program, and they found no effect on persistence, transfer, or degree completion within three years.

At the City University of New York, Douglas, Logue, and Watanabe-Rose (2023) followed students from a randomized trial at three community colleges for seven years. Students assigned to college-level statistics with weekly support, instead of a noncredit algebra course, passed their gateway math course at a higher rate, earned an associate degree within three years at about 26 percent against 18 percent, earned a bachelor's degree within five years at about 14 percent against 7 percent, and earned about $3,000 to $4,500 more a year in years five to seven. More on what the research shows is on the research page.

Both studies point to the same thing: results depend on how a college implements corequisite support, not only on adopting the intervention. That is the subject of the complete guide to corequisite support at scale.

Frequently asked questions

Is corequisite support the same as corequisite remediation?

Yes. They are the same model. Corequisite remediation is an older name that still appears in some research and in state policy. Corequisite support is the term Almy Education uses, because the support is built around the college-level course rather than around what a student lacks. The term “support” uses an asset-based approach, rather than a deficit-based one.

Is corequisite support the same as developmental education?

No. Developmental education traditionally means standalone courses below the college level that students take first, before they can enroll in the college-level course. Corequisite support enrolls students in the college-level course from the start and provides aligned support in the same term.

Who is corequisite support for?

The vast majority of students who would otherwise be placed in developmental courses, not only those near a placement cut-off. Only a very small share of students are better served by a different route, and institutions that have moved to corequisite support treat it as the default.

Which courses use corequisite support?

Most widely, gateway math and English, where it replaces the developmental sequence. In the sciences it is used where a prerequisite stands in the way of the college-level course, most often math before chemistry.

Does corequisite support work?

Yes, on the measures two peer-reviewed studies report. A statewide study in Tennessee found more students passing gateway math and English within a year, and a randomized trial at CUNY found lasting gains in degree completion and wages. How well it works at any one college depends on how that college implements it.