1

Significant Increases in Associate Degree Graduation Rates: CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP)

(June 2020)

Launched in 2007 with support from the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) is a comprehensive program for associate-degree students at nine CUNY colleges: Borough of Manhattan, Bronx, Hostos, Kingsborough, LaGuardia, and Queensborough Community Colleges; Medgar Evers College; College of Staten Island; and New York City College of Technology. ASAP’s extensive supports include financial resources (tuition waivers for students in receipt of financial aid with a gap need, textbook assistance, and New York City Transit MetroCards), and structured pathways to support academic momentum (full-time enrollment, block scheduled first-year courses, immediate and continuous enrollment in developmental education, winter and summer course-taking). ASAP also provides comprehensive direct support services (personalized advisement, tutoring, career development services, and early engagement opportunities to build a connected community).

ASAP is committed to graduating at least 50% of students within three years through the provision of comprehensive support services and financial resources that remove barriers to full-time study, build student resiliency, and support timely degree completion. Currently, less than 25% of CUNY community college students and only 16% of urban community college students nationally graduate within three years.1 ASAP has served over 59,000 students since inception across thirteen cohorts, with the first cohort entering in fall 2007. In the academic year 2019-20, ASAP served approximately 25,000 students.

ASAP has proven to be one of CUNY’s most successful initiatives with students in the program graduating at a rate more than double that of similar students. The program has garnered national attention and has gone through rigorous evaluation. ASAP evaluation includes an internal analysis by CUNY across eight cohorts utilizing a quasi-experimental constructed comparison group design, a five-year experimental design random assignment study led by MDRC, and a cost-benefit analysis conducted by Dr. Henry Levin and the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education (CBCSE) at Teachers College, Columbia University. Key findings from CUNY’s evaluation of ASAP2 reveal:

ASAP students graduated at more than double the rates of non-ASAP students. Across the eight cohorts in the evaluation, ASAP had an average graduation rate of 53.4% vs. 24.6% for the historical matched comparison group. The most recent average graduation rate across ten ASAP cohorts is 52.9%.

Students who started ASAP with developmental needs graduated at high rates just like students who entered fully skills proficient: After three years, 47.8% of ASAP students with developmental needs and 60.6% of fully skills proficient ASAP students graduated vs. 20.9% of non-ASAP students with developmental needs and 29.9% of fully skills proficient non-ASAP students.

There are significant differences between ASAP and comparison group students in terms of retention rates, movement through developmental coursework, credit accumulation, and graduation rates. These differences are seen as early as the first semester and continue to occur at all junctures over three years.

Students from underrepresented groups appear to benefit more from ASAP than other students.

When considering longer-term outcomes across CUNY, ASAP students are more likely to earn a degree. Six years after beginning, 63.6% of ASAP first-time freshmen had earned either an associate or baccalaureate degree (or both) vs. 43.3% of comparison group students.

EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF ASAP

MDRC conducted a random assignment study of ASAP’s third and fourth cohorts, which included a sample of 900 students.3 Participants included ASAP students from three community colleges who entered with developmental education needs. Students were randomly assigned to either the program group or control group, ensuring that the two groups were similar in terms of background and motivation, and differences in outcomes were a direct result of participating in ASAP. MDRC’s three-year report found that ASAP students outperformed the control group students with respect to persistence, credit accumulation, full-time enrollment, three-year graduation, and transfer to four-year colleges. The three-year graduation rate for ASAP students was nearly double the graduation rate of control group

2

students. MDRC stated that “ASAP’s effects are the largest MDRC has found in any of its evaluations of community college reforms. The model offers a highly promising strategy to markedly accelerate credit accumulation and increase graduation rates among educationally and economically disadvantaged populations” (Scrivener et al. 2015).

ASAP was also the subject of a comprehensive cost-benefit study led by Dr. Henry Levin of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education (CBCSE) at Teachers College Columbia University.4 Part one of Dr. Levin’s study, a cost-effectiveness analysis of ASAP, revealed that despite higher up-front costs, the average cost per three-year ASAP graduate was lower than for comparison group graduates. The study found an average savings of $6,500 per graduate. Part two of Dr. Levin’s analysis looked at the benefits of timely graduation, both for the individual and for the public sector, by examining increased earnings and tax revenues as well as reduced costs for social services such as public health, public assistance, and criminal justice. The study found that an investment in ASAP has significant financial returns for both the taxpayer and the student. For every dollar invested in ASAP by the taxpayer, $3.50 are returned per associate degree conferred in the form of increased tax revenues and social service savings, and for each dollar invested by the ASAP student, $12.20 are returned through increased earnings. Dr. Levin and his team concluded that the total net benefits for 1,000 ASAP students are $46.5 million higher than for 1,000 comparison group students who did not enroll in ASAP.

ASAP EXPANSION AND REPLICATION

Thanks to generous support from the City of New York, ASAP expanded from 4,300 students in 2014-15 to over 25,000 in 2018-19. Part of the ASAP expansion includes serving more Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) majors and a campus-wide expansion at Bronx Community College to serve most incoming first-time, full-time freshmen.

In addition to serving more CUNY students seeking their associate degree, ASAP is also beginning to serve students who are pursuing their bachelor’s degree. CUNY received funding from Robin Hood to adapt the ASAP model to a four-year college setting at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which launched the Accelerate, Complete, Engage (ACE) program in fall 2015. The goal of ACE is to graduate at least 50% of students in four years.

John Jay ACE has served over 900 students since the program launch and admitted its fourth cohort in fall 2019. Also, with support from Robin Hood, ACE expanded to Lehman College in fall 2019, welcoming 125 first-time freshmen and 125 transfer students in its inaugural cohort. Additionally, generous funding from the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust will support a second Lehman ACE cohort of 300 students, 200 first-time freshmen, and 100 transfer students.

To expand the reach of ASAP beyond New York City, CUNY partnered with MDRC and the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) to support adaptations of ASAP at three Ohio community colleges. MDRC released three-year findings from this Ohio demonstration5, which showed that the ASAP-like programs nearly doubled graduation rates after three years and increased the number of students who transferred to four-year colleges. In 2017-2019, CUNY ASAP provided technical assistance to support replication efforts in two additional states through grants from Arnold Ventures’ “Move the Needle” initiative. Westchester Community College (NY) and Skyline College (CA) launched ASAP-like programs in fall 2018. Currently, CUNY ASAP is supporting further replication of the model across the San Mateo County Community College District and at two West Virginia Community and Technical Colleges (Blue Ridge Community and Technical College and West Virginia University at Parkersburg). Additionally, Nashville State Community College (TN) is replicating the model through the support of former Nashville Mayor Briley’s Getting Results by Advancing Degrees initiative (Nashville GRAD).

1 Source: CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) and the Institutional Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS). 2 For CUNY’s evaluation, comparison groups were constructed for each cohort from fall 2007 and fall 2014 to estimate the effect of ASAP. The comparison groups consisted of students enrolled at each college who met ASAP eligibility criteria but did not participate in the program. Estimated effects were verified using propensity-score matched comparison groups for each cohort as well and similar results were found. Additional ASAP evaluation findings, briefs and reports can be found: http://www1.cuny.edu/sites/asap/evaluation

3 MDRC ASAP reports: http://www.mdrc.org/publication/doubling-graduation-rates 4 Dr. Levin’s reports: http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Levin-ASAP-Cost-Effectiveness-Report_092412_FINAL-5.pdf and http://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Levin_ASAP_Benefit_Cost_Report_FINAL_05222013.pdf. 5 Increasing Community College Graduation Rates with a Proven Model: https://www.mdrc.org/publication/increasing-community-college-graduation-rates-proven-model

http://www1.cuny.edu/sites/asap/evaluationhttp://www.mdrc.org/publication/doubling-graduation-rateshttp://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Levin-ASAP-Cost-Effectiveness-Report_092412_FINAL-5.pdfhttp://cbcse.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Levin_ASAP_Benefit_Cost_Report_FINAL_05222013.pdfhttps://www.mdrc.org/publication/increasing-community-college-graduation-rates-proven-modelhttps://www.mdrc.org/publication/increasing-community-college-graduation-rates-proven-model

Total Enrollment2 N 59,120Gender

Male % 43.1Female % 56.9

EthnicityAmerican Indian/Native Alaskan % 0.4Asian/Pacific Islander % 12.2Black % 32.6Hispanic % 44.1White % 10.7

Age Group18 or younger % 47.319 % 16.020 to 22 % 18.223 to 29 % 11.830 or older % 6.7

Mean Age mean 20.6Admission Type

First-time Freshmen % 66.8Transfer Students % 8.3Continuing Students % 24.9

Developmental Students3 %Initial Remedial Need4 % 74.2At Time of Entry into ASAP % 42.3

College Admissions Average5 mean 75.1GED Recipients % 6.2Pell or TAP Receipt6 % 86.4

March 1, 2020

6 Students who received either a Federal Pell Grant and/or a New York State Tuition Assistance Program Grant. Based on a preliminary data source.

2 Data for the fall 2019 cohort not yet reflected in the profile. Also, excludes a small percentage of students from other cohorts whose data were not available.

Profile of ASAP StudentsFall 2007 to Fall 2019 Cohorts1

1 Includes ASAP students admitted in fall 2007 through fall 2019. Medgar Evers College joined in fall 2014 and NYC College of Technology and College of Staten Island joined in fall 2015.

3 Students who required developmental coursework. Developmental need data comes from CUNY's Administrative Data Warehouse. Includes students from cohort 1 who were required to address all developmental needs prior to entering ASAP. Data for cohorts 11 and 12 are not yet available and therefore excluded from the average.4 Initial remediation need is based on first CUNY Skills Assessment test taken and/or test exemption. 5 Data is not available for all students; Data is missing for most transfer students and students who applied as direct admits to the college.

Source: ASAP calculations using data from the CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment February 27, 2020

55% 55%

47%45%

57% 55% 58% 55% 52%55%

47%52%

47%42%

51%46%

50%46%

43%47%

39%30%28%

17% 19%

33%30%

34% 34%30% 31%

25%

23%

16% 14%

24%

18%

24% 22%18%

20%16%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Cohort 1(FA07)

(N=1,132)

Cohort 2(FA09)

(N=429)

Cohort 3(SP10)(N=390)

Cohort 4(FA10)

(N=559)

Cohort 5(FA11)

(N=475)

Cohort 6(FA12)

(N=1,562)

Cohort 7(FA13)

(N=1,847)

Cohort 8(FA14)

(N=2,278)

Cohort 9(FA15)

(N=3,996)

Cohort 9S(SP16)

(N=1,682)

Cohort 10(FA16)

(N=8,036)Preliminary

ASAP 2-Year and 3-Year Graduation RatesFall 2007 to Fall 2016 Cohorts

All Students:3-Year Rate

Dev ed Students:3-Year Rate

All Students:2-Year Rate

Dev ed Students:2-Year Rate

ASAP Cohort Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated RateN N % N N % N N %

Cohort 1 (Fall 2007) 1,132 621 54.9 ~~ ~~ ~~ 1,132 621 54.9Cohort 2 (Fall 2009) 429 238 55.5 329 172 52.3 100 66 66.0Cohort 3 (Spring 2010) 390 185 47.4 335 157 46.9 55 28 50.9Cohort 4 (Fall 2010 559 249 44.5 431 181 42.0 128 68 53.1Cohort 5 (Fall 2011) 475 271 57.1 312 159 51.0 163 112 68.7Cohort 6 (Fall 2012) 1,562 866 55.4 819 379 46.3 743 487 65.5Cohort 7 (Fall 2013) 1,847 1,063 57.6 899 448 49.8 948 615 64.9Cohort 8 (Fall 2014) 2,278 1,244 54.6 981 453 46.2 1,297 791 61.0Cohort 9 (Fall 2015) 3,996 2,096 52.5 1,454 618 42.5 2,542 1,478 58.1Cohort 9S (Spring 2016) 1,682 929 55.2 563 262 46.5 1,119 667 59.6Cohort 10 (Fall 2016) 8,036 3,753 46.7 3,438 1335 38.8 4,598 2,418 52.6Total / Average1 22,386 11,515 52.9 9,561 4,164 46.2 12,825 7,351 59.6

ASAP Cohort Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated RateN N % N N % N N %

Cohort 1 (Fall 2007) 1,132 341 30.1 ~~ ~~ ~~ 1,132 341 30.1Cohort 2 (Fall 2009) 429 119 27.7 329 77 23.4 100 42 42.0Cohort 3 (Spring 2010) 390 67 17.2 335 52 15.5 55 15 27.3Cohort 4 (Fall 2010 559 105 18.8 431 59 13.7 128 46 35.9Cohort 5 (Fall 2011) 475 155 32.6 312 76 24.4 163 79 48.5Cohort 6 (Fall 2012) 1,562 472 30.2 819 146 17.8 743 326 43.9Cohort 7 (Fall 2013) 1,847 630 34.1 899 215 23.9 948 415 43.8Cohort 8 (Fall 2014) 2,278 781 34.3 981 217 22.1 1,297 564 43.5Cohort 9 (Fall 2015) 3,996 1,200 30.0 1,454 256 17.6 2,542 944 37.1Cohort 9S (Spring 2016) 1,682 516 30.7 563 113 20.1 1,119 403 36.0Cohort 10 (Fall 2016) 8,036 1,971 24.5 3,438 548 15.9 4,598 1,423 30.9Total / Average1 22,386 6,357 28.2 9,561 1,759 19.4 12,825 4,598 38.1

Source: ASAP calculations using data from the CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

1 This row includes the total number of students for all cohorts combined for the columns labeled "N" and the mean of the cohort graduation rates for the columns labeled "%".

3-Year Graduation Rate for ASAP Students by Developmental Need at Time of Entry

All Students Developmental Need at Entry Fully Proficient at Entry

February 27, 2020

2-Year Graduation Rate for ASAP Students by Developmental Need at Time of Entry

All Students Developmental Need at Entry Fully Proficient at Entry

1 This row includes the total number of students for all cohorts combined for the columns labeled "N" and the mean of the cohort graduation rates for the columns labeled "%".

ASAP Cohort Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated RateN N % N N % N N %

Cohort 1 (Fall 2007) 1,132 621 54.9 852 470 55.2 280 151 53.9Cohort 2 (Fall 2009) 429 238 55.5 298 166 55.7 131 72 55.0Cohort 3 (Spring 2010) 390 185 47.4 147 62 42.2 243 123 50.6Cohort 4 (Fall 2010 559 249 44.5 366 155 42.3 193 94 48.7Cohort 5 (Fall 2011) 475 271 57.1 324 185 57.1 151 86 57.0Cohort 6 (Fall 2012) 1,562 866 55.4 1,083 571 52.7 479 295 61.6Cohort 7 (Fall 2013) 1,847 1,063 57.6 1,187 659 55.5 660 404 61.2Cohort 8 (Fall 2014) 2,278 1,244 54.6 1,434 714 49.8 844 530 62.8Cohort 9 (Fall 2015) 3,996 2,096 52.5 2,645 1,266 47.9 1,351 830 61.4Cohort 9S (Spring 2016) 1,682 929 55.2 709 300 42.3 973 629 64.6Cohort 10 (Fall 2016) 8,036 3,753 46.7 5,818 2,527 43.4 2,218 1,226 55.3Total / Average1 22,386 11,515 52.9 14,863 7,075 49.5 7,523 4,440 57.5

ASAP Cohort Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated Rate Total Graduated RateN N % N N % N N %

Cohort 1 (Fall 2007) 1,132 341 30.1 852 250 29.3 280 91 32.5Cohort 2 (Fall 2009) 429 119 27.7 298 70 23.5 131 49 37.4Cohort 3 (Spring 2010) 390 67 17.2 147 15 10.2 243 52 21.4Cohort 4 (Fall 2010 559 105 18.8 366 59 16.1 193 46 23.8Cohort 5 (Fall 2011) 475 155 32.6 324 94 29.0 151 61 40.4Cohort 6 (Fall 2012) 1,562 472 30.2 1,083 276 25.5 479 196 40.9Cohort 7 (Fall 2013) 1,847 630 34.1 1,187 348 29.3 660 282 42.7Cohort 8 (Fall 2014) 2,278 781 34.3 1,434 379 26.4 844 402 47.6Cohort 9 (Fall 2015) 3,996 1,200 30.0 2,648 597 22.5 1,348 603 44.7Cohort 9S (Spring 2016) 1,682 516 30.7 709 92 13.0 973 424 43.6Cohort 10 (Fall 2016) 8,036 1,971 24.5 5,818 1,145 19.7 2,218 826 37.2Total / Average1 22,386 6,357 28.2 14,866 3,325 22.2 7,520 3,032 37.5

Source: ASAP calculations using data from the CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment

1 This row includes the total number of students for all cohorts combined for the columns labeled "N" and the mean of the cohort graduation rates for the columns labeled "%".

3-Year Graduation Rate for ASAP Students by Admission Type

All Students First Time Freshmen Continuing/Transfer Students

February 27, 2020

1 This row includes the total number of students for all cohorts combined for the columns labeled "N" and the mean of the cohort graduation rates for the columns labeled "%".

2-Year Graduation Rate for ASAP Students by Admission Type

All Students First Time Freshmen Continuing/Transfer Students

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

ASAP CompGroup

ASAP CompGroup

ASAP CompGroup

ASAP CompGroup

ASAP CompGroup

2nd Semester 3rd Semester(1 Year)

4th Semester 5th Semester(2 Year)

6th Semester

92.7%

83.9% 80.9%

65.7%

71.3%

54.8%

39.3% 38.7%

19.9%

27.7%

26.1%

9.0%

40.8%

14.8%

Average Retention Rates of ASAP and Comparison Group Students1: Fall 2007-Fall 2013 Cohorts2 92.7%

83.9% 80.9%

65.7%

71.3%

54.8%

65.4%

47.6%

42.5%

60.7%

ASAP (Graduated)

ASAP (Re-enrolled)

Comparison Group (Re-enrolled)

Comparison Group (Graduated)

1

Comparison groups are constructed for each cohort and consist of students enrolled at each college who met ASAP eligibility criteria but did not participate in ASAP. 2

Semester to semester retention at college of entry. Second and third semester retention rates for cohorts entering in fall 2007, fall 2009, spring 2010, fall 2010, fall 2011, fall 2012 and fall 2013 (ASAP N=6,394; Comp group N=22,824). Fourth and fifth semester retention rates for same cohorts except fall 2013 (ASAP N=4,547; Comp group N=19,090). Sixth semester retention rate for same cohorts except fall 2012 and fall 2013 (ASAP N=2,985; Comp group N=15,042). Overall rates are calculated by averaging individual cohort rates. Source: CUNY Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. November 13, 2014

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

All Dev EduNeed

FullyProficient

All Dev EduNeed

FullyProficient

All Dev EduNeed

FullyProficient

2-Year Graduates(ASAP N=8,672; Comp N=20,680)

2.5-Year Graduates(ASAP N=8,672; Comp N=20,680)

3-Year Graduates(ASAP N=8,672; Comp N=20,680)

28.1%

20.1%

39.4%42.6%

35.3%

52.4% 53.4%

47.8%

60.6%

9.5%6.0%

13.8%16.3%

12.2%

21.9%24.6%

20.9%

29.9%

Results from Evaluation of Fall 2007-Fall 2014 Cohorts1Average Graduation Rates of ASAP and Comparison Group Students1,2

By Developmental Need at Entry3

ASAP Comparison Group

1Comparison groups were constructed for each cohort from fall 2007 and fall 2014 to estimate the effect of ASAP. The comparison groups consisted of students enrolled at each college who met ASAP eligibility criteria but did not participate in the program. Estimated effects were verified using propensity-score matched comparison groups for each cohort as well and similar results were found.2Overall graduation rates are calculated by averaging the individual cohort graduation rates. 3Developmental education need or skills proficiency is based on status at time of entry.Sources: CUNY Administrative Data Warehouse (ADW); ASAP partner colleges. November 14, 2017

Significant Increases in Associate Degree Graduation Rates:CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP)(April 2020)EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF ASAPASAP EXPANSION AND REPLICATIONASAP_Program_Overview_Tables_and_Charts.pdf01 ASAP_super_group_profile_wEW_10201402 ASAP_combined_cohorts_retention_11131403 ASAP_combined_cohorts_grad_1031201404 ASAP_C5_3yr_Grad_overall_10091405 ASAP_C2toC4_3YR_GRAD_bySUBGROUPASAP_historical_grad_rates_20200227.pdfChart_cohortDev_needAdm_type