Effect of Rigorous Prerequisite Enforcement on Quantitative Skills Outcomes Assessed at a Regional University

The results of implementing a rigorous prerequisite enforcement program on quantitative (basic algebra statistics) outcomes in Principles of Finance (Principles) are examined and then related to student performance in Principles. The enforcement resulted in many students who had not completed quantitative prerequisites either dropping voluntarily or being removed administratively from Principles. As a consequence of their removal, outcomes assessment revealed statistically significant improvement in their abilities 1)to solve problems involving linear algebra (one equation and one unknown), 2)to solve problems involving descriptive statistics, and 3)to graph linear relationships related to finance.