How Academic Preparation Shapes College Students’ Own Success and the Success of their Peers in Corequisite Courses: Evidence from Texas

Students who are not college ready often perform better in corequisite courses than traditional developmental education, yet concerns remain about how well these courses serve the least prepared students. This study used statewide data from Texas to examine relationships between students’ high school coursework in math and English and their performance in various types of corequisite courses. It also investigated peer effects by analyzing how classmates’ high school course taking influences individual outcomes. Results show that no specific corequisite model or intensity consistently benefits students who did not complete the typical college-preparatory course sequence. Moreover, students in classes with a higher proportion of peers who did not complete advanced high school coursework had lower success rates in both developmental and college-level courses. However, these peer effects were less detrimental for students who themselves did not follow the typical college-preparatory path, suggesting that peer dynamics interact with individual preparation in shaping course outcomes.