[hollandheese]

Sorry no.

You are misrepresenting what's happening. Other departments use beginning math classes as a way of weeding out students they feel won't succeed in their fields because they can't pass basic mathematics classes. Most math departments would absolutely love to have more students in them.

The problem is that these students aren't prepared properly by K-12 mathematics courses and math builds upon itself. If you don't have a good grasp of algebra, you just won't succeed at calculus. We're sticking people in the equivalent of Spanish 4 without having learned Spanish 1 properly.