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The State University of New York system will bring an academic support program for low-income students, developed in the City University of New York system, to 25 of its campuses this upcoming spring, SUNY chancellor John B. King Jr. announced at a recent system Board of Trustees meeting.
The model, called Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), and a similar support model for students earning bachelor’s degrees, known as Accelerate, Complete, Engage (ACE), have been replicated in seven states since ASAP’s founding in 2007. These programs focus on comprehensive wraparound supports, including robust, personalized academic advising and covering various expenses, including tuition and fees after state and federal financial aid, public transit, and textbooks.
“Programs like ASAP and ACE have a strong, nationally recognized track record of boosting student success by focusing on academic achievement and student support,” King said in a press release Tuesday. He added that the model will help retain and graduate 3,750 participating students across the system.
The scaling of the programs is funded by the $75 million SUNY Transformation Fund included in New York governor Kath Hochul’s 2023–24 budget. The effort is also supported by grants from the Robin Hood Foundation, an organization dedicated to alleviating poverty in New York City, and the Brightway Education Foundation, a foundation focused on college access for single mothers, with partial matches from individual campuses, according to the release.
A statement from the SUNY Board of Trustees noted that the ASAP program has already been replicated successfully at Westchester Community College.
“Millions of Americans have some college education but no degree because of significant barriers that prohibited them from finishing as students,” the statement read. “By providing more wraparound services through replication of CUNY’s ASAP and ACE, SUNY is investing in student success with robust levels of support to ensure students not only start but finish college.”
