Examining Future Course Achievement and Retention after Modifying D/C-Grade Thresholds in General Chemistry

Underprepared students in STEM gateway courses face high failure rates and attrition, yet traditional remediation has shown limited effectiveness in improving outcomes. At our large public research university, we have implemented corequisite support models to reduce time-to-degree costs, but these approaches may not provide sufficient time for skill development before high-stakes assessments. This study examined whether grade modification (converting the upper half of D grades to C−) in first-quarter general chemistry to allow sequence progression affected subsequent academic performance and persistence. Students receiving modified C- grades (MC−) were compared to those receiving unmodified C- grades (UC−) and D grades requiring course repetition (UD) across a three-quarter general chemistry sequence. The outcomes examined were common final exam scores, course grades, and course persistence. By the second quarter of general chemistry, there was no difference in academic performance between MC- students and UC- students, maintaining this parity through the third quarter in exam scores and persistence. These findings suggest that allowing students with marginal first-quarter performance to progress without course repetition does not compromise subsequent academic achievement and may reduce administrative and financial barriers without sacrificing learning outcomes.