Utah House approves resolution to study remedial college courses and costs

The Utah House on Friday unanimously approved HCR 11, a resolution asking the Commission of Higher Education to review remedial programs, assess their costs and recommend more cost‑effective alternatives for students.

Sponsor Representative Dilley/Delray urged the House to support an amendment that asks the commission to "review and evaluate all remedial programs and prepare an updated cost of these services," and to consider "redirecting savings to other institutional priorities." The sponsor said remedial courses sometimes cost "upwards of $400 or more in some cases," with the lowest being about "$175." Representative Goodfellow warned against treating community colleges as if they should not provide remediation, noting that community colleges handle many adult and nontraditional students and that "85 percent of all of the students in remedial education at Salt Lake Community College are over 22 years old."

Members debated options the study should examine, including community education classes, adult education, electronic high school offerings and career/technical schools, with supporters saying the goal is not to eliminate remedial courses but to identify where they are most effectively and affordably delivered. Representative Johnson referenced the Higher Education Appropriations Committee recommendation that students over 22 should not be required to pay their own way for remediation and said that further study could yield better outcomes.

The resolution, which sponsors framed as a way to improve alignment between K‑12 and higher education and to find cost‑efficient remediation paths for returning or nontraditional students, passed the House and will be forwarded to the Senate for consideration.

The House record shows HCR 11 passed by voice or recorded vote and was placed on the calendar for transmittal to the Senate; next steps will depend on Senate action.