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Increasing the number and proportion of students completing college-level, aka gateway, courses in their first year is the explicit goal of Strong Start to Finish, an initiative of the Education Commission of the States. In support of meeting that goal, SSTF collected curricular information from six higher-education systems across the country and created over 440 individual maps. Three significant takeaways emerged from the hundreds of thousands of data points. We share what we learned to help higher-education systems better understand the structural and institutional barriers created through policies that impact student success and to suggest how they can be addressed.

SSTF began its work in early 2018 with four initial systems, known as Scaling Sites, in early 2018 – CUNY, Ohio, SUNY and USG. Subsequently we added California and Arkansas. These case studies show that, while much work remains to be done, progress is happening. Early results show that by undertaking reforms such as streamlining or eliminating developmental education, implementing pathways for students and revising placement policies SSTF Scaling Site institutions are doubling the percentage of students completing critical college courses in half the time.

As developmental education reforms gain momentum across the country, course pathway maps help policymakers improve the student experience by identifying roadblocks to math and English course completion and, ultimately, a college degree. Course pathway maps create a visual guide, connecting the dots between every class in a sequence ending with the first college-level math or English course applicable to a degree.