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By Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat
Two rural Colorado community colleges will bring a highly-regarded New York City student support program to their campuses in hopes they can increase the number of students who get their associate degree.
Earlier this month, Gov. Jared Polis announced Lamar Community College and Colorado Mountain College will implement this fall on their campuses the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs, or ASAP. The program at CUNY’s nine community and comprehensive college campuses has doubled its three-year associate degree graduation rates, studies show, and Colorado school leaders hope it will do the same here.
The ASAP program aims to keep students on track to graduation by connecting them to counselors and providing financial, academic, and personal support. While the New York City college system’s associate degree program started in 2007, it’s newer in rural settings.
State and school leaders believe the framework will translate easily in Colorado to help students succeed in college.
Colorado will spend $10 million over four years on this program and other workforce development investments, with philanthropic organization Arnold Ventures matching the funding. Other initiatives haven’t been announced.
The ASAP program is another effort by the state to help more Coloradans get degrees. However, the state has had a hard time sustaining such student support initiatives past the initial investment.
Colorado programs, such as Finish What You Started, typically have short-term funding and are limited to a smaller group of students because of state budget constraints; the program began during the pandemic with federal relief funding to get more students back to college. That money will soon run out and there’s no guarantee it will continue.
ASAP in Colorado faces similar long-term funding challenges, although Arnold Ventures and school leaders hope the program will continue.
This is the type of program that can help Coloradans, Polis said.
“This exciting new partnership with Arnold Ventures builds on our nation-leading progress to significantly expand access to high-quality education, strengthen our workforce, and create more pathways to economic success for all Coloradans,” he said.
What is CUNY ASAP?
The New York City mayor’s office charged CUNY almost two decades ago with finding a way to increase students’ chances of getting a degree. At the time, only about 13% of the school’s community college students did so, lagging three points behind the national average, said Christine Brongniart, university executive director of CUNY ASAP.
About 40% of New York participants now finish an associate degree in three years, and Brongniart said the goal is for that number to rise to above half of all students. Nationally, 29% of community college students in 2020 completed a two-year degree in three years, according to the most recent data analyzed by the National Student Clearinghouse.
In Colorado, about a third of community college students graduate within three years.
Students in the CUNY ASAP program meet with advisors twice a month, but those counselors also monitor student grades and attendance to understand when students might be struggling.
The program has kept advisors’ caseloads at a modest level – one counselor for 150 students – so as not to overload them, Brongniart said.
While counseling is a big part of the program, ASAP tries to help students with other issues that historically have prevented them from completing college. For example, the college brings students onto campuses during the summer to help them finish enrollment — a way to prevent “summer melt,” or students who sign up but never show up.
Once on campus, ASAP students get tutoring and peer mentoring. They also receive financial assistance through stipends for books, transportation, fees, and tuition. Most community college students work while attending school because they need to support themselves financially, which can also cause students to enroll part-time or make juggling responsibilities difficult.
The program has grown to support 25,000 City University of New York students annually. The school also supports the program in eight states and more than 50 colleges. Colorado would be the ninth state to adopt the ASAP model.
Can it work in rural Colorado?
Lamar Community College and Colorado Mountain College couldn’t be more different than the community colleges in New York City.
But administrators said the support that students need and many of the issues are relatable.
The New York City program offers students stipends for riding the subway to school, but at Colorado Mountain College, students might get a gas card instead because they face long commutes over mountain passes.
Colorado Mountain College Chief of Staff Yesenia Silva Estrada said the great part of the program is personalized services to meet individual student needs.
Students at Colorado Mountain College face affordability issues in resort communities, Estrada said. Many go to college part-time and have to work multiple jobs.
The program will enroll 150 students who need the most support, Estrada said.
“We’re excited about the flexibility to be able to find out what is right in our geography,” she said.
Why is Arnold paying for the program?
Arnold Ventures invested in ASAP because of its long history of proven success, said Justin Milner, head of the philanthropy’s evidence and evaluation portfolio.
Arnold Ventures also is supporting ASAP expansion in West Virginia and North Carolina, with the majority of those students living in rural areas. While many programs aim to support students, ASAP has shown that it can be effective in different areas of the country, he said.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at [email protected].
