UNDATED (AP) -- An estimated one-third of college students in this country have to take remedial classes before they're ready for college-level studies.

The group "Strong American Schools," in its report "Diploma to Nowhere," says that colleges and taxpayers are spending up to 2.9 billion dollars each year on classes that students should have had in high school.

Former Colorado Governor Roy Romer, the chairman of the group, says the students have been misled into thinking they're prepared -- only to "find what they learned wasn't adequate."

Just over 40 percent of community college students and nearly 30 percent of four-year college students need some form or remedial course work when they arrive on campus.