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The same may be said about the ASAP seminar. In addition to providing social support,student success courses such as the ASAP seminar are intended to help students by teaching softskills that are key to success, including time management and study skills. Success courses maybe especially helpful for students who do not know how to navigate the college environment.MDRC conducted an evaluation of a success course aimed at students with developmentaleducation needs. It found that the success course had a positive impact on students’ selfreportedinterdependence, 18 self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and engagement in college,among students with low levels of these attributes. However, the course did not have statisticallysignificant effects on students’ academic achievement. 19ASAP also provides financial supports to assist low-income students with costs otherthan tuition and fees. While nearly all ASAP students receive federal or state financial aid,many might still be unable to pay for textbooks and transportation to class. By providing lowincomestudents with funds to fill the gap between government financial aid and total tuitionand fees and to cover expenses such as use of textbooks and transportation, ASAP is designedto allow students to work fewer hours and experience reduced financial stress. These benefits, inturn, should allow them to focus more on their studies. Many researchers have evaluatedfinancial aid interventions that have produced promising results, including positive impacts oncredits earned and graduation. 20ASAP is unique in that it brings all of these components together in a single, comprehensiveprogram — without getting inside the classroom. By offering students an array ofservices, ASAP seeks to address the many barriers — academic, financial, and personal — thatcan impede students from succeeding in college. Taken together, the components of ASAP seekto effect positive academic outcomes for students. In the short term, students will progressthrough developmental education, earn more credits, and persist semester to semester. Longterm, students will earn a degree and transfer to a four-year institution to continue their highereducation and, as a result, achieve better employment and earnings outcomes.Notably, ASAP does not alter what takes place inside the classroom. ASAP studentstake the same academic courses with the same faculty and cover the same material as non-ASAP students. Unlike many reforms in developmental education that change practices insidethe classroom, ASAP proposes that student outcomes can be improved by changing the collegecontext outside the classroom.18 Interdependence is defined as building mutually supportive relationships that foster the achievementof goals.19 Rutschow, Cullinan, and Welbeck (2012).20 Patel, Richburg-Hayes, de la Campa, and Rudd (2013); Goldrick-Rab, Harris, Kelchen, and Benson(2012).5