Contact: John Hutchins, MDRC, john.hutchins@mdrc.org

(April 28, 2025) — New study results released today show that three Ohio community colleges that adapted the City University of New York’s innovative Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) increased the earnings of students who had participated in the program by 14 percent in the eighth year after they enrolled in the three-year program.

The programs also increased graduation rates by nearly 50 percent, boosting the attainment of both associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. The eight-year follow-up study, which employed a random assignment research design, was conducted by MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research firm, with support from Arnold Ventures.

In 2014, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C), and Lorain County Community College set out to address their low-income students’ needs by turning to a proven-effective program: Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) developed by the City University of New York (CUNY). ASAP requires students to enroll full time and provides comprehensive financial, academic, and personal support services.

What Is ASAP?

In 2007, the City University of New York, with the support and funding from the New York City Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity, launched ASAP at the then six existing CUNY community colleges to dramatically increase timely graduation. ASAP requires students to attend college full time and provides them with a rich array of support services for three full years, including enhanced advising, first-year courses reserved for program students, cohort course-taking, tutoring, career services, a tuition waiver to cover any gap between a student’s financial aid and tuition and fees, MetroCards for use on public transportation, and textbook assistance. Based on the success of the program, ASAP has been expanded to serve more than 110,000 CUNY students. Additionally, ASAP has been replicated in seven states beyond Ohio.

All three colleges in the Ohio demonstration modeled their programs’ administrative structure and services on CUNY ASAP. While a few program components had to be adjusted to meet the local context, the goal was to come as close to ASAP as possible. Instead of the MetroCards, the three Ohio colleges offer $50 gift cards for use at local gas and grocery store chains. CUNY provided technical assistance to the colleges, and the Ohio Department of Higher Education coordinated the Ohio ASAP Network, which allowed administrators to share lessons across the three colleges.

What Did the Study in Ohio Find?

The Ohio colleges targeted students who were from low-income families, willing to attend full time, and in majors where degrees could be completed within three years. Students could be new to college or could be continuing students with up to 24 credits. The study compares the Ohio demonstration of ASAP with regular services and classes at the colleges.

Key findings after eight years include:

• The Ohio programs boosted the earnings of program participants: After eight years, the program group earned an average of $3,337 more than the control group, a 14 percent increase. This increase is larger than the one at the six-year mark (which was $2,045, or 12 percent). The earning increases appear to be driven by participants securing higher-paying jobs, working more hours, or both.
   
• The program’s large impact on degree completion persists in the long-term: At the eight-year mark, 46 percent of students in the program group earned a degree compared with 31 percent in the control group, an increase of 15 percentage points. This impact has remained steady for five years, suggesting that the program helps students earn degrees who otherwise wouldn’t.

“The promising findings from ASAP in Ohio add to the growing body of evidence on comprehensive approaches to improve the educational — and economic outcomes — of students from low-income backgrounds,” said MDRC President Virginia Knox. “That’s why states and institutions across the nation are investing in replicating ASAP for their communities.”

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This report was supported by Arnold Ventures. The original Ohio demonstration of ASAP and MDRC’s evaluation were supported by Ascendium Education Group, Arnold Ventures, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, ECMC Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, the Haile U.S. Bank Foundation, KnowledgeWorks, The Kresge Foundation, and Lumina Foundation.