This report is part of a series focusing on studies intended to inform the California State University (CSU) system about the implementation of Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110). A major policy adopted by the CSU Chancellor’s Office in 2017, EO 1110 requires CSU campuses to eliminate noncredit developmental courses — often known as “remedial” courses — in Written Communication (WC) and Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning (QR), change the process for how students are placed into WC and QR courses, and improve how students are supported to succeed.

This report, the third in the series, compares outcomes for students who entered the CSU system in the first year under the new policy (2018) against the outcomes of students who entered in 2017, just prior to implementation.

The study’s comparisons indicate that, on a systemwide level, the EO 1110 policy had the intended impact of getting students to complete their General Education requirements and to earn more baccalaureate-level credits in their first year of enrollment. However, analyses also show very little change in the subsequent year’s retention patterns for students under the new policy, and indicate that there are still important differences in outcomes for students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds.

View the first and second report in the series: