This March 2015 webinar was hosted by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and MDRC.

In 2007, The City University of New York (CUNY) launched Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) at all six of the then-existing CUNY community colleges. ASAP requires students to attend college full time and provides them with a rich array of supports for three full years, including a tuition waiver that covers any gap between a student’s financial aid and tuition and fees, special seminars and block-scheduled classes, high-touch advising, career services, MetroCards for use on public transportation (conditional on participation in other program services), and free use of textbooks. ASAP also provides support to students to take winter and summer courses. Results from MDRC’s random assignment evaluation show that ASAP is nearly doubling the three-year graduation rate for developmental education students, as well as increasing transfer rates to four-year institutions — at a lower cost-per-degree than regular CUNY services.

With core support from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, CUNY, MDRC, and the Ohio Board of Regents have launched a demonstration project to implement programs based on ASAP at three Ohio community colleges: Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, and Lorain County Community College.

Webinar panelists discussed the program, the evaluation results, and the new replication effort:

• Donna Linderman, University Associate Dean for Student Success Initiatives, CUNY
• Sue Scrivener, Senior Associate, MDRC
• Brett Visger, Associate Vice Chancellor, Institutional Collaboration & Completion, Ohio Board of Regents