As is true of most ventures, one major key to success in higher education is being properly prepared.

Unfortunately not every high school graduate is adequately prepared for college courses. State universities have struggled for years with how to address this problem and once again are looking at ways to increase the odds that students who need some extra help will be successful.

The Kansas Board of Regents recently received a new report on “developmental education.” That term covers coursework offered at post-secondary schools to help students prepare for tougher college-level courses. The most common classes offered under this umbrella are intermediate algebra, reading and writing.

The report showed that, in Kansas, 42 percent of first-time students in two-year colleges and 16 percent of first-time students at state universities enroll in at least one remedial course. If those students completed those courses and then went on to successful higher education careers, that might not be a problem. However, the report indicated that nearly a third of students who take remedial classes fail to complete them, and most who completed courses still failed to succeed in college-level math and composition classes. In either case, most fail to complete either a two-year or four-year degree.

Clearly, new strategies are needed.

The first line of defense, the report noted, is to be more clear with high schools about what skills are needed in college. That could include identifying 11th-graders who are deficient in math or English and addressing that problem before they graduate.

For those who bring their deficiencies to university or community college campuses, the report recommended a strategy that involved shorter developmental education sequences and allowing students to take college classes and remedial courses simultaneously. That way the remedial classes can be specifically targeted at areas where the students are having problems.

Too many students who must take remedial classes to prepare themselves for college work are destined to fail. That’s a waste of human talent, as well as state resources. The task force that prepared the developmental education report accurately concluded that addressing this issue must be a joint effort of K-12 and higher education officials, as well as state policymakers.

Pursuing some level of post-high-school education is an increasingly important goal for most Kansas students. Increasing the chances of students successfully meeting that goal is an important investment in the state.