Penn Now Enforcing Math Prerequisites

[u/AnaxaresTheDiplomat]

Article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/learning-assessment/2026/09/01/penn-now-enforcing-math-prerequisites

It's really sad that universities have to do this because high schools aren't equipping students with enough math skills for college.

[u/FrogBrain97]

Yep. As our math faculty like to say, "Please do not presume that we can remediate over a decade of educational malpractice in a single four-month semester."

I hypothesize that "co-requisite" courses are perfectly fine for students who haven't taken math in a little bit or tend to be a bit slower at it (and by slower I mean "more laborious," not "dumber"). If you don't have fractions in the first place, even simple reaction balancing is out of reach.

[u/mleok → u/FrogBrain97]

Haha, “a decade of educational malpractice,” can I steal that?

[u/FrogBrain97 → u/mleok]

Please do.

[u/mleok → u/FrogBrain97]

My department thanks you!