The Access–Enrollment Disconnect in Corequisite Math Reform: Causal Evidence and Stakeholder Perspectives from a Community College

This study examines a statewide developmental education reform in Virginia that allows students who would have been placed in standalone remedial math to enroll directly in college-level math with corequisite support. Although corequisite support has been widely adopted and generally promising, less is known about how these reforms operate when expanded access does not always translate into actual enrollment. Focusing on the largest community college in Virginia, we use regression discontinuity (RD) analysis to evaluate policy impacts and follow up with interviews with students, advisors, and instructors to explain how implementation shaped the enrollment and completion patterns. We find that one-third of students did not enroll in recommended math courses. RD estimates show different impacts of corequisite placement for students with different levels of academic preparedness. For less-prepared students, corequisite placement increased gateway math enrollment and completion relative to prerequisite remediation, although completion gains were smaller than enrollment. For more-prepared students, corequisite placement reduced math enrollment substantially relative to placement into standalone gateway math, with no detectable overall effect on completion. Interviews suggest that the enrollment gap reflected logistical barriers to registration and scheduling, additional credit and financial burden, limited understanding of math sequences, and inadequate advisor communication. For the less pronounced impact on math completion, instructors described challenges sustaining engagement in corequisite support and teaching students with varying levels of preparation. These findings suggest that expanding access to college-level math is not sufficient on its own and highlight the importance of streamlined registration, clear advising, and effective instructional support.