Just 31 percent of community college students complete remedial, or developmental, math "gateway" courses before they move on to college-level math, according to a recent study. To help combat this cycle, some community colleges are turning to newly developed online programs that emphasize repetition, practice, and mastery of concepts. Although online enrollment has grown tremendously in recent years, community colleges have been slow to offer developmental courses online. At community colleges in Virginia, for example, only 3 to 4 percent of online courses are in developmental programs, according to an analysis from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University's Teachers College. Many of the developmental courses that have been offered online have had disappointing results. Dr. Shanna Jaggars, a senior research associate at CCRC, has found that students who take online remedial classes are less likely to succeed in college-level courses. However, new courses being developed take into account the specific needs of remedial students. Still, CCRC's Jaggars cautions against a rush to offer developmental courses online. According to Jaggars, an online course is not necessarily a desirable alternative to a face-to-face course for a developmental student. The developmental course curriculum should be aligned to ensure that students only need to take the material that they actually need to succeed in their program of study.