On June 20, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA), the ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, joined other House Democrats to introduce the Community College Student Success Act (CCSSA). This bill would provide funding to help community colleges develop and implement programs that are modeled after the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP).

In the summary of the bill, the House committee highlighted MDRC’s evaluation of CUNY’s ASAP, as well as the more recent successful implementation of ASAP in Ohio:

City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) — a rigorously evaluated and replicated program that removes barriers to full-time study, builds degree momentum, and improves timely graduation — is one such program. According to an MDRC randomized trial, CUNY’s ASAP program nearly doubled three-year graduation rates for participating students from 22 percent to 40 percent. ASAP has a proven track record of success not only in New York City, but at colleges in Ohio as well. This makes ASAP scalable and replicable. While ASAP requires upfront investment from colleges, due to the significant increase in graduation rates, ASAP actually drives the cost per degree down by 11.4 percent.