Accelerated Study in Associate
Programs
The City University of New York
PCC DE Task Force | 2014
The ASAP MISSION
To support “…50 percent of students within three
years through provision of comprehensive support
services and financial resources that remove barriers
to full-time study, build student resiliency, and support
degree completion” (Linderman & Kolenovic 2012: 9).
SIZE & SCOPE
There have been seven ASAP cohorts totaling
6,428 students admitted across six
participating CUNY community colleges, with
the first cohort entering in fall 2007 and the
seventh in fall 2013.
TRANSITION TO DE
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The 2007 Cohort = 1,132 non-DE students (i.e.
reading, writing, and math proficient)
 55%
earned an Associate’s degree within 3 years
 3x higher than the national rate for urban community
colleges
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In 2010 = 76% of all students had one or two
DE course needs
 56%
graduation rate
SHOW ME THE MONEY
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Originally funded by NYC Center for Economic
Opportunity (CEO) as a way to fight poverty
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Started by Mayor Bloomberg as an executive order
Analyzes causes, scope, and consequences of poverty
Funds programs that build human capital & improve financial
stability
ASAP is a signature program
State support
Grants from various foundations, charitable trusts, and
scholarship funds to support program expansion,
random assignment study, and scholarships.
KEY PROGRAM FEATURES
COST FREE
 No
cost for financial–aid eligible students
 Free transit
 Free use of textbooks
CONNECTED COMMUNITY
25-student cohorts by major
 ASAP Seminar (weekly non-credit advisement
program) – two semester course
 Enrollment in required major classes with ASAP
and non-ASAP students
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FULL-TIME STUDY & MAJORS
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Required full-time status (minimum of 12 credits
per semester)
Summer classes encouraged
An array of majors (A.A., A.S., A.A.S.) available via
different campuses and partner colleges
BLOCK SCHEDULE
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Consistent, predictable, and convenient morning,
afternoon, or evening blocks
COMPREHENSIVE ADVISEMENT
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Students meet with experienced, full-time advisors
twice a month for academic, social, and interpersonal
support and transition after graduation
ACADEMIC SUPPORT SERVICES
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In- and out-of-class tutors
Weekly minimum of six-hours of supplemental
instruction available
Regular interaction between faculty and advisors to
identify those who need extra support
Dedicated space for homework assistance, study
groups, and scheduled review sessions for individual
courses
Mandatory tutoring for DE students, those who have
experienced course failure, or struggling students
CAREER COUNSELING
Workshops on interviewing and job skills
 Assistance with resumes and cover letters
 Goals-shaping help
 Acquisition of internships
 Career and employment specialists work
w/advisors and students for transfer to 4-year
colleges and/or entering the work force
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STUDENT LEADERS (new since 2012)
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Student Leaders (new since 2012)
 Helps
student develop leadership skills
 Recruit prospective students
 Attend leadership training workshops that focus on
teamwork, public speaking, and engagement
strategies
 Conduct informational sessions
SUMMER INSTITUTE
Themed 3-day orientation for program
expectations and community building
 Common readings infused into interactive
workshops led by teaching artists from
the CUNY Creative Arts Team (CAT) or EKOarts.
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 performance
approaches to explore issues such as
openness to change, effective communication, and self
advocacy
ADMINISTRATION & STAFFING
ADMININISTRATION & STAFFING
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Coordinated effort between the CUNY Office of Academic
Affairs (CUNY Central) and six participating community
colleges.
CUNY Central and individual college ASAP directors meet
monthly, make regular campus visits, and are in regular
contact about program and evaluation matters.
The CUNY Central ASAP staff is led by a University
Executive Director, who reports to the Senior University Dean
for Academic Affairs.
College programs are led by directors who report to Vice
Presidents for Academic Affairs and may receive day-today support from college Deans of Academic Affairs.
OPERATIONS AT EACH COLLEGE
Fully-dedicated staff specifically for the program
 director
 co-director
1
– 3 clerical staff members (i.e. program secretary,
assistant)
 full-time faculty
 2 – 5 academic advisors/counselors with an average
caseload of 125 students
 one job developer (career and employment specialist)
OUTREACH (targets staff, not students)
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Counselor workshops
Benefits of ASAP
 Steps to enroll in the program
 Strategies for engaging students in conversations about
college and post-secondary planning
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Monthly e-newsletter
Student and counselor resources/promotional materials
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube)
“What’s Appening,” a weekly recommended collegerelated iPhone app
 “Edu-tainment,” a weekly YouTube video that incorporates
college life
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“DoYou” posts about interesting majors available at CUNY and
other career exploration tips
APPLICATION & PLACEMENT
APPLICATION CRITERIA
1)
2)
3)
4)
Be admitted to a CUNY community
college
Meet ASAP NYC residency requirements
Academic requirements
Financial requirements
Meet ASAP Academic Requirements
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BASIC SKILLS: All students must be skills proficient in
reading, writing and math OR have no more than
two developmental course needs based on their
scores on the CUNY Assessment Test (CAT).
 Each
ASAP program determines allowable
developmental course placements for their college.
 Students with two developmental course needs at time of
application must attempt at least one of their required
courses in the summer before program entry (no charge).
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MAJOR: All students must agree to enter into an
Associates degree program (A.A., A.S., or A.A.S.) on
a full-time basis (minimum 12 credits or equated
credits* per semester) in an ASAP-approved major.
Meet ASAP Financial Requirements
Financial Aid: Students must receive some needbased financial aid as determined through
completion of the Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) form and a New York State
Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) application.
 ASAP Tuition Waiver: Students must receive
financial aid and have a gap need between
their financial aid award amount and the
amount they owe for tuition and fees.
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WHAT ARE CUNY'S SKILLS REQUIREMENTS?
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For the first college-level composition course,
students must be proficient in both
reading and writing.
Proficiency in reading and writing =
 SAT
I verbal score of 480 or higher or Critical Reading
score of 480 or higher
 ACT English score of 20 or higher
 N.Y. State English Regents score of 75 or higher
 CUNY Assessment Tests (CATs): Reading Test score of 70
or higher and Writing Test score of 56 or higher.
PLACEMENT
CUNY ASSESSMENT TESTS (CATs)
CAT in READING
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An un-timed, multiple-choice, computer-based test
of reading; Must score 70 or more.
Measures reading comprehension from several
multidisciplinary texts from commonly assigned firstyear college courses.
Asks students to determine implicit meanings, to
draw conclusions, and to make comparisons and
generalizations.
CAT in WRITING
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A 90-minute standardized written essay test in which
students are asked to respond to a reading passage.
Must score a total score of 56 or more.
No preparation for prompt
Read, understand, and respond to a passage of 250300 words
Read the passage and instructions and then write an
essay responding to the passage while following the
instructions.
A non-electronic dictionary is allowed
TEST PREP
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Online test preparation resources
Each college has a testing information center with
resources to help prepare for the CATs.
A sample of the writing assignment (along with the
scoring guide and sample papers for each score
point) and some tips on taking the CAT in Writing is
included in the Student Handbook prepared by
CUNY faculty.
DE & COLLEGE-LEVEL READINESS
Exit from DE and ESL Course Sequences
 All students take the CAT(s) at the end of the semester
and must pass to take college composition.
 Faculty at each college decide the requirements for
passing each top-level remedial, developmental, or ESL
course.
 Sometimes, passage of the skills test is required to pass
the course; sometimes it is not.
Retesting
 Generally, students must receive at least 20 hours of
instruction between retests (no more than two times during
a semester).
Evaluation
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ongoing internal analysis by CUNY utilizing a quasiexperimental constructed comparison group design,
a five-year experimental design random assignment
study led by MDRC, and
cost-benefit analysis led by Professor Henry Levin
and the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies in Education
(CBCSE) at Teachers College Columbia University.
RELEVANT FINDINGS
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After only one semester, ASAP increases the proportion of students who have completed their
developmental education courses by 15 percentage points (15 more students out of every
100 are ready to take college-level courses.)
Increased number of credits students earned during the first semester and boosted their rates
of full-time enrollment in the first and second semesters.
Increase in retention, movement through developmental course work, credit accumulation, and
graduation rates.
Cross-cohort three-year graduation rate = 51% vs. 22% for comparison group students.
After three years, 47% of ASAP students with developmental needs graduated vs. 19% of
comparison group students with developmental needs.
Students from underrepresented groups appear to gain more benefit from ASAP than other
students.
When graduation and transfer are considered together, 63 out of every 100 students who
began ASAP three years earlier have either graduated, transferred to a baccalaureate
program, or both—versus 44 comparison group students.
Most importantly, ASAP students graduate at more than double the rates of non-ASAP
students.
BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS
Although ASAP requires more resources per student than
the traditional associate program, the cost per graduate
was found to be lower because of its much higher
effectiveness in producing graduates.
higher tax revenues and lower costs of spending on public
health, criminal justice, and public assistance
 by taxpayer return is between three and four dollars and
around twelve dollars for each dollar invested by the
individual
 A cohort of 1,000 students enrolled in ASAP would generate
fiscal benefits for the taxpayer of more than $46 million
beyond those of investing an approximately equal amount
in the conventional degree program.
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