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Service contrast: In general, non-ASAP students were not offered blocked or linkedcourses such as those offered to ASAP students. At the school that offers learning communitiesto its ASAP students in the first semester, non-ASAP students are also offered learning communitiesin the first semester, and a majority of non-ASAP students enrolled. At another school,first-semester learning communities were available to non-ASAP students who were reading ona college level, although enrollment rates were lower than at the school offering learningcommunities to all new students. At both of these schools in the second semester and beyond,and at the other school in all semesters, there were no other widely available blocked or linkedcourse options for non-ASAP students.Financial SupportsASAP provides a few key financial supports to participating students. This section discussesthose supports and the differences between those supports and what the evaluation’s controlgroup received.Tuition WaiverASAP: ASAP waives the difference between a student’s tuition and fees and financialaid, specifically, the sum of the federal Pell Grant and the New York State Tuition AssistanceProgram grant, CUNY students’ two main need-based sources of aid. 9 In order to be eligible fora waiver, ASAP students must apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application forFederal Student Aid and be eligible for financial aid.During the study period, before or at the start of each semester, the college ASAP directorsand financial aid offices worked together to apply waivers as needed so that ASAP studentsdid not pay any tuition or fees. The waiver was applied to accounts internally, not paid directlyto the students, and students did not get letters or other communication about the precise amountof the waiver. As a result, students typically knew that the waiver existed but did not know howmuch it amounted to.At the two colleges where the fall and spring semesters are split into a longer main sessionand a shorter intersession, the ASAP tuition waiver covered all sessions. At the thirdcollege, the tuition waiver covered the fall and spring semesters. Some additional funds were9 The term “unmet need” is used in higher education to refer to the difference between the total cost ofattending college and financial aid. The total cost of attendance includes tuition and fees as well as othereducation-related expenses, such as textbooks, transportation, and room and board (The Institute for CollegeAccess and Success, 2009). ASAP’s tuition waiver covers only tuition and fees. As discussed later, ASAPprovides monthly MetroCards and free use of textbooks regardless of a student’s amount of financial aid (orlevel of unmet need).38
available for ASAP advisers at that college to allocate at their discretion to cover classes inwinter and summer. Typically, advisers allocated those funds for students with a 3.0 GPA orhigher.Recall that one of the eligibility criteria for the evaluation was having family incomebelow 200 percent of the federal poverty level or being eligible for a federal Pell Grant. CUNYanalysis of financial aid and ASAP tuition waiver data showed that the vast majority of programgroup members received enough financial aid to cover their tuition and fees and thus did notneed the ASAP tuition waiver. As Table 3.6 shows, only 9 percent of program group studentsreceived an ASAP tuition waiver during their first semester in the study. The proportion ofstudents who received a waiver remained at about that level during the first two years of thestudy. During the third year, between 3 and 5 percent received a waiver. (As is discussed inChapter 4, the proportion of sample members enrolled in college declined over time.)Evaluation of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) forDevelopmental Education StudentsTable 3.6Three-Year Tuition Waiver Receipt Among ASAP StudentsThree-Year Impacts ReportOutcomeProgramGroupReceived tuition waiver (%)First semester 8.9Second semester 9.3Third semester 10.4Fourth semester 10.6Fifth semester 4.9Sixth semester 3.3Average waiver received ($) 57Average waiver amount per semester among those receiving a waiver ($) 719Sample size 451SOURCE: MDRC calculations from tuition waiver analysis performed by CUNY ASAP office.NOTES: Rounding may cause slight discrepancies in sums and differences.Outcomes shown in italic type are calculated for a proportion of the full sample.39
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DOUBLINGGRADUATIONRATESThree-Year E
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The ASAP evaluation is supported by
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ContentsOverviewList of ExhibitsPre
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List of ExhibitsTableES.1 Key Diffe
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PrefaceCommunity colleges provide r
Page 14 and 15: ing students. Several ASAP staff wo
Page 16 and 17: • Financial supports: Students re
Page 18 and 19: Evaluation of Accelerated Study in
Page 22 and 23: ed. ASAP provides enhanced student
Page 24 and 25: public transportation. By the end o
Page 27 and 28: Chapter 1IntroductionPostsecondary
Page 29 and 30: lation and graduation rates of any
Page 31 and 32: The same may be said about the ASAP
Page 33: Finally, MDRC examined the costs of
Page 36 and 37: Random Assignment Process and the S
Page 38 and 39: CharacteristicEvaluation of Acceler
Page 40 and 41: tal courses, the characteristics of
Page 42 and 43: the program. Transcript data prior
Page 46 and 47: included the ASAP Assistant Directo
Page 48 and 49: Advisers discussed both full-time e
Page 52 and 53: participating in the program: conta
Page 54 and 55: Table 3.3 (continued)SOURCE: MDRC c
Page 56 and 57: survey respondents, 49 percent comp
Page 60 and 61: Other Student ServicesASAP offered
Page 62 and 63: equired to work with academic depar
Page 66 and 67: The average tuition waiver among pr
Page 68 and 69: Box 3.4Javier and the Value of the
Page 74 and 75: Looking to the Next ChapterOverall,
Page 78 and 79: 52Enrollment rate (%)10090807060504
Page 80 and 81: ASAP consistently increased student
Page 86 and 87: (See Table 4.3 for more details.) A
Page 90 and 91: cohort (spring or fall). 16 A forma
Page 96 and 97: ASAP has had a dramatic effect on t
Page 98 and 99: $16,284 of additional investment in
Page 102 and 103: • Career and employment services
Page 104 and 105: college, which is not the case. 8 F
Page 106 and 107: cost is equal to the average cost p
Page 110 and 111: program group is $13,423 (11.4 perc
Page 112 and 113: credits than control group students
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Students in CUNY’s focus groups a
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tion’s Finish Faster initiative,
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least 6 percent were married. 11 AS
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college, the results will shed ligh
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Evaluation of Accelerated Study in
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This appendix addresses two aspects
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and among survey respondents would
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2. Creation of Survey ScalesThis se
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A scale is created as the unweighte
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ReferencesAdelman, Clifford. 2005.
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Rutschow, Elizabeth Zachry, and Emi
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About MDRCMDRC is a nonprofit, nonp
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