The term “remedial course” is often used to describe a class that is designed to help students fulfill a requirement or review material they may have forgotten.

At the University, however, this term is used incorrectly, according to Earl Ginter, director of the division of academic enhancement.

“We don’t offer a remedial program,” Ginter said. “The courses we offer are the UNIV and learning support courses, and they each have different purposes.”

Learning support courses are designed for students who didn’t complete college preparatory requirements in high school, and must fulfill any missing requirements before beginning core classes.

David Graves, senior associate director of admissions, told The Red & Black that for the past four years, between 10 and 15 students a year have been admitted who haven’t fulfilled those requirements.

“This is out of an admitted group of roughly 9,200 freshmen each year,” he said. “So we are talking about a very small number.”

Graves said the number has been going down each year, with only 10 of those students admitted this year.

He said these students generally fall into one of five categories – home school applicants, out-of-state applicants, “talented artists,” “talented athletes” and advanced enrollment students.

“Students take learning support classes to satisfy any deficiencies in either their college prep classes or SAT or ACT scores,” said Julie Segrest, administrative manager for the division of academic enhancement. “They don’t receive degree credits from the courses – they only take them to complete these requirements.”

UNIV courses are taken on a voluntary basis and are designed to help students in subjects such as writing, grammar, math and critical thinking.

“UNIV courses are available for students to strengthen the skills they already have,” Ginter said.

In some situations, UNIV courses can also be used to fall back on if a student is struggling in a class.

“Some students may choose to take a math course when they get to the University, and then they get a few tests back and realize they should have had a review,” Segrest said.

“Those students can drop from the class into one of our courses without getting a withdrawal on their records,” she said.

Ginter said he has seen no decline in the number of students taking UNIV courses in recent years, even with the University’s increasing academic standards.

“There are going to be challenges you don’t anticipate, no matter what school you go to,” Ginter said.