There’s More Than One Type of Advanced Math Course

For years, Just Equations has been recommending to colleges that they accept a range of advanced high school math courses for admission and limit any preference for calculus to students whose majors require calculus. Colleges also should consider students’ math coursetaking in the context of the courses available to them, which means that students who don’t have the option to take calculus or other advanced math courses shouldn’t face a penalty in the admissions process. 

Still, many colleges are not (yet) following this advice. We have documented as much: Even though calculus is rarely a stated requirement, many admissions officers have a preference for students with the course on their transcripts. This is a particular concern at the most selective colleges.

When it comes to an individual student’s choice of high school math courses, the decision depends on many factors, particularly the student’s aspirations. But when those aspirations include a selective college, there can be a gap between the student’s long-term goals and the short-term admissions practices of that institution. Some counselors have told us that, due to admissions preferences, they often recommend calculus courses even for students who they believe would benefit more from learning statistics. 

Fortunately, research is starting to provide more insight into the value of various high school math courses, which should help narrow the gap. 

Last year, for example, the Fordham Institute published a study analyzing the benefits of advanced math courses—specifically AP Statistics and AP Calculus. Using a data set of Texas students, the researchers found that students who took an AP math course had higher earnings—$20,000 to $30,000 a year higher—than those who stopped taking math after Algebra II or precalculus. 

The calculus coursetakers were more likely to attend selective colleges and major in STEM. These findings are unsurprising, given that (1) many admissions offices have a preference for calculus, and (2) calculus is a standard requirement for STEM majors. Importantly, the researchers also found that calculus and statistics coursetakers completed college at the same rates. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference in long-term earnings between the two groups. 

The message for students, then, is to take a math course aligned with their interests—unless their goal is to attend a highly selective college, where there may be a penalty for not taking calculus. (Future research should help establish just how much of a penalty.) 

Recent moves within higher education to eliminate the blanket preference for calculus are also cause for optimism. Last year, for example, a group of California math faculty from the state’s three higher education systems produced guidance on the math competencies expected of incoming college students. After underscoring the importance of three years of Common Core–aligned high school math, the faculty highlighted the value of a range of senior-year courses. Though not focused on admissions per se, the statement reinforces the California systems’ longstanding position that calculus is not a requirement for admission. 

The guidance affirms that precalculus and calculus courses provide key preparation for students interested in STEM fields such as engineering, life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematical sciences. For students pursuing majors in the arts and humanities, rigorous courses in areas such as statistics, data science, and discrete mathematics are appropriate preparation. And for students interested in business, economics, and social or behavioral sciences, any of the above courses could be valuable, the faculty group said. 

Research such as Fordham’s and faculty position statements such as California’s can help nudge more college admissions offices to recognize the full range of rigorous high school math courses as they consider individual applicants and their contexts. But focusing on careers and earnings comes with some caveats. 

Take a 2014 research study from the European Economic Review showing that investing in cognitive skills, such as numeracy and problem-solving, yields significant economic benefits. Rather than measuring course completion or educational attainment, the study focused on numeracy skills involved in solving real-world problems, finding that those skills were associated with higher wages. 

But not all nations valued it the same. Out of 23 countries, the United States had the highest return for numeracy—roughly double that of some of the other countries. Possibly reflecting a connection between mathematics education and inequality, the researchers found that returns to numeracy were “systematically lower” in countries that had policies promoting income equality such as “higher union density, stricter employment protection legislation, and larger public sectors.” 

Indeed, wage inequality was the highest in the U.S. and two other countries (Estonia and Korea) in the study. In these countries, a worker whose earnings are at the 90th percentile of the distribution earned 4.5 times as much as a worker at the 10th percentile. In Sweden, the country with the lowest wage inequality, the difference was only 2-to-1. These findings are consistent with the idea that in the United States, math achievement is treated as a commodity to be rationed rather than a plentiful resource to be tapped by all. 

That is all the more reason to focus on ensuring that more students can access a full range of higher-level math courses—calculus and beyond.