John Hutchins, MDRC, 212-340-8604, john.hutchins@mdrc.org

Mark Stollar, SUNY Westchester Community College, 914-606-6638, mark.stollar@sunywcc.edu

MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research firm, and SUNY Westchester Community College (SUNY WCC) announced today new study results from a rigorous random assignment evaluation of SUNY WCC’s Viking ROADS (Resources for Obtaining Associate Degrees and Success) program. The findings were released at an event at SUNY WCC.

After three years, Viking ROADS increased graduation rates by a notable 12 percentage points, a remarkable result considering that the program study was launched shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The program also boosted full-time enrollment and credit accumulation.

Viking ROADS, launched in 2018 with major support from Arnold Ventures and an anonymous WCC Foundation donor, is based closely on the successful City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), a comprehensive community college program that has boosted graduation rates in prior evaluations in New York City and Ohio. SUNY WCC received technical assistance from CUNY during the study replication.

Like CUNY ASAP, Viking ROADS offers students a comprehensive, integrated, three-year package of support including:

1. Academic and career support: a dedicated academic counselor, tutoring services, career services, and summer college orientation
    
2. Financial supports: a scholarship that covers the gap between grant aid and tuition and fees, a monthly transportation voucher, and an annual textbook stipend of $500
    
3. Specialized course enrollment options, including reserved seats in select first-year courses

To receive these benefits, Viking ROADS students are required to enroll full time at SUNY WCC, complete required developmental courses within the first year, and use support services monthly.

Over 70 percent of the students involved in the study identified as Black or Hispanic, and more than 30 percent were the first in their family to attend a college or university. In MDRC’s study, interested students were randomly assigned into a program group that received Viking ROADS services or to a control group that received regular college programming. The students entered the study in three cohorts, at the start of the fall 2019, fall 2020, and spring 2021 semesters. Students who began the study in fall 2019 were required to adapt to remote learning after one semester, while the students starting in fall 2020 and spring 2021 joined the study at a time when classes and student support were available mostly online. In-person classes resumed in fall 2021.

“The fact that Westchester Community College’s Viking ROADS program boosted graduation rates by 12 percentage points is exceptional, particularly considering that it was operating during the disruptions of the pandemic,” said Colleen Sommo, MDRC senior fellow and director of the evaluation.

“The North Star for SUNY Westchester Community College is providing student success at the lowest tuition rates possible,” said Dr. Belinda S. Miles, President of SUNY WCC. “Viking ROADS is an evidence-based initiative that has been proven to increase graduation rates, especially among those students who most need that support. This is a truly transformative program which will not only improve the futures of these students, but the families and communities that rely on their success.”

“Westchester Community College is the first SUNY campus to integrate the ASAP program, and we are encouraged by their three-year results to elevate our students’ success,” said Dr. Donna Linderman, SUNY Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Success. “With funding from Governor Hochul and our state legislature, SUNY has expanded ASAP and ACE, the four-year program, at 25 campuses to date. We look forward to seeing WCC’s success replicated across our campuses as we expand further for more New Yorkers.”

“I was nervous and lost when I first entered WCC,” said Juliette Pacheco, SUNY WCC graduate and Viking ROADS scholar. “Thanks to Viking ROADS and my advisor, I not only graduated with a 3.8 GPA, but with confidence. The skills I developed in this program really prepared me for life. If it wasn’t for Viking ROADS I don’t believe I would be where I am today – the first college graduate in my family and on my way to graduate school.”

More on the Findings

Interim results released in 2022 showed large positive effects on academic progress (enrollment and credit attainment) that were seen one-and-a-half years after random assignment. At the three-year mark, impacts on enrollment and credit attainment remained strong, leading to positive effects on graduation:

• Viking ROADS participants were 11.8 percentage points more likely to complete a degree than students in the control group (35.5 percent versus 23.7 percent).
   
• These graduation improvements are in line with results from earlier evaluations of CUNY ASAP (18 percentage point impact) and the replication of ASAP in Ohio (15 percentage points). Taken together, these effects on college completion are the largest of any postsecondary program that has been evaluated by MDRC

For more information, read Charting Pathways: Three-Year Findings from the Viking ROADS Demonstration by Stanley Dai, Kayla Warner, and Colleen Sommo.

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About Westchester Community College: SUNY Westchester Community College provides over 20,000 full-time and part-time students with an education taught by award-winning faculty at one of the lowest tuition rates in New York State. The college offers over 65 degree and certificate programs, including innovative programs in such high-demand fields as Cybersecurity, Health Information Technology, Respiratory Therapy, and Digital Filmmaking. The college reflects the rich diversity of its region and was the first SUNY campus to be designated a Hispanic Serving Institution.

About The City University of New York: The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has 25 college spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving nearly 240,000 degree-seeking students of all ages and awarding 50,000 degrees each year. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic, and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a public first-rate education to all students, regardless of means or background.

About MDRC: MDRC, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, is committed to finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing the nation — from reducing poverty and bolstering economic mobility to improving public education and college graduation rates. MDRC designs promising new interventions, evaluates existing programs using the highest research standards, and provides technical assistance to build better programs and deliver effective interventions at scale.