A program at City University of New York that surrounds full-time students with intensive financial, academic, and career support has nearly doubled the three-year graduation rate for community college students who start out in remedial classes, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, or ASAP, also increased college enrollment and credits earned, lowered the cost per degree, and raised the number of students transferring to four-year colleges, says a 129-page report on the study, which was released by MDRC, a nonprofit education- and social-policy research group.
The study focused on low-income students needing one or two remedial courses at three CUNY colleges: Borough of Manhattan, Kingsborough, and LaGuardia.
Forty percent of the students in the study graduated within three years, compared with 22 percent in the control group. Nationwide, only about 15 percent of community college students who start out in remedial education earn a degree or certificate within three years, the report notes.
The City University and MDRC are working to replicate the model elsewhere around the country, starting with three two-year colleges in Ohio. And while President Obama promoted the ASAP project during his free community college pitch last month, the program's high cost could prove a deterrent in many states where community college support has been slashed. Over three years, CUNY spent about $16,300 more per ASAP student than it did on those in the general population. That's an increase of 63 percent.
But because it significantly increased graduation rates, the program ended up costing less per graduate, at least at the three-year mark, the researchers concluded. The findings are "by far the most encouraging results of any community college reform that MDRC has yet evaluated," the report says.
Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Programs-Extra-Support-for/190415