Three Ohio community colleges that tested the Accelerated Student in Associate Programs (ASAP) – a well-regarded City University of New York (CUNY) program that requires students to attend college full-time and provides robust wraparound students services — have nearly doubled three-year graduation rates and increased transfers to four-year colleges by 50 percent, according to a three-year evaluation by MDRC.

The nonprofit research firm also found that the Ohio programs improved enrollment, full-time enrollment and credits earned. However, the cost of running the programs has prompted two of three colleges not to continue, though they plan to retain certain parts of it.

Thirty-five percent of students enrolled in the ASAP-like programs at the three Ohio colleges — Cuyahoga Community College, Lorain County Community College and Cincinnati State Technical and Community College — earned an associate degree after three years, compared to 19 percent of students in a control group at those colleges, according to MDRC.

Students in the program also earned 8.5 more credits, on average, than students in the control group, and 18 percent of students in the program were registered at four-year colleges after three years, compared to 12 percent in the other group, the report says...

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