SUNY to expand student-support program

ASAP|ACE have been “shown in randomized controlled trials to significantly improve” associate and bachelor’s degree completion rates, SUNY contends. The program also helps close “opportunity gaps” — offering resources and supports including tuition waivers; funding to offset transportation and textbook expenses; academic assistance; “comprehensive” personalized advisement; and career-development activities.

The expansion at SUNY will support at least 3,750 students, or inaugural cohorts of 150 students at each of the 25 participating campuses.

For ASAP at community colleges, the campuses include Cayuga, Jefferson, Herkimer, Finger Lakes, Clinton, Erie, Hudson Valley, Nassau, Orange, Rockland, Schenectady, Suffolk, and Westchester.

For ACE at state-operated campuses, they include Oswego, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Potsdam, Canton, Morrisville, Buffalo State, University at Buffalo, Farmingdale, Fredonia, New Paltz, Plattsburgh, and Purchase.

SUNY went on to say the expansion is the “first major investment” from the Transformation Fund that was included in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2023-24 state budget.

Grants from the Robin Hood Foundation and Brightway Education Foundation —alongside a partial match from individual campuses — support the programs, SUNY said.

“Programs like ASAP and ACE have a strong, nationally recognized track record of boosting student success by focusing on academic achievement and student support. With the guidance of SUNY Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Success Donna Linderman, who was one of the key architects of and led ASAP and ACE at CUNY, we will be able to assist 3,750 students across 25 participating campuses to ensure their success through increased retention and graduation rates and establish the foundation for broader scaling of best practices,” SUNY Chancellor John King, Jr. said in the news releaes. “I am grateful to Governor Kathy Hochul and our legislative partners for committing resources to this expansion through the $75M SUNY Transformation Fund. Additionally, I would like to thank the Brightway Education Foundation and Robin Hood Foundation for partnering with SUNY to increase social mobility for lower-income students, including student parents, by working to remove educational barriers.”