Table 1.
Failure rates in some gateway STEM courses
| Field | Course | Failure rate | Failure criterion | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biology | Intro-majors | 56% | Average proportion of Ds and Fs on exams | Burrowes, 2003 |
| Intro-majors | >25% | Course outcome: D, F, or drop | Wischusen and Wischusen, 2007 | |
| Intro-nonmajors | 27% | Course outcome: D, F, or drop | Marrs and Chism, 2005 | |
| Biochemistry | 85% | F on first exam | Peters, 2005 | |
| Medical Microbiology | 30% | Course outcome: D or F | Margulies and Ghent, 2005 | |
| Chemistry | Intro-majors | ∼50% | Course outcome: D, F, or drop | Reardon et al., 2010 |
| Intro-nonmajors | ≥ 30% | Course outcome (“at most institutions”): fail or drop | Rowe, 1983 | |
| Computer science | Intro to programming | 33% | Course outcome (international survey): F or drop | Bennedsen and Casperson, 2007 |
| Engineering | Intro to chemical engineering | 32% | Course outcome: D, F, or drop | Felder et al., 1998 |
| Mathematics | First-year calculus | 42% | Course outcome (U.S. national average): failure | Treisman, 1992 |
| Physics | Intro-majors | 33% | Course outcome: D, F, or drop | Marrs and Chism, 2005 |