Supporting Community College Students from Start to Degree Completion: Long-Term Evidence from a Randomized Trial of CUNY's ASAP
Weiss, Michael J.; Ratledge, Alyssa; Sommo, Colleen; Gupta, Himani (2019). American Economic Journal: Applied Economics v11 n3 p253-297. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED604399
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examining896Students, gradePS
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: October 2020
- Single Study Review (findings for Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
96.40 |
94.20 |
No |
-- | |
|
Enrolled in 4-year college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
24.50 |
17.50 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
50.80 |
40.40 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
2.90 |
1.10 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
39.70 |
22.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
28.70 |
15.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Black;
|
56.30 |
35.70 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
7 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
42.00 |
26.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
8 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
45.20 |
29.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
9 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
46.60 |
32.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
14.40 |
8.80 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
10 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
48.20 |
36.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
11 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
49.70 |
38.20 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Female;
|
54.70 |
43.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
first-generation college students;
|
51.20 |
39.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Male;
|
45.10 |
36.20 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Hispanic or Latino;
|
43.80 |
42.10 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Bachelor’s Degree |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
16.70 |
16.20 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
0.00 |
0.00 |
-- |
-- | ||
|
Earned a degree from any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
0.20 |
0.00 |
-- |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
6 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
51.20 |
47.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Number of terms enrolled |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
12 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
6.50 |
6.30 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
2 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
91.50 |
81.60 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
3 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
77.10 |
70.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
4 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
70.40 |
62.90 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrolled in any college |
Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) vs. Business as usual |
5 Semesters |
Full sample;
|
61.20 |
55.10 |
No |
-- | ||
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 62%
Male: 38% -
Urban
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New York
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Race Asian 8% Black 34% Other or unknown 5% White 10% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 44% Not Hispanic or Latino 56%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted at three CUNY community colleges: Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), Kingsborough Community College (KCC), and LaGuardia Community College (LGCC). Students were originally randomly assigned to the study in 2010 and were followed for six years.
Study sample
Among the 896 students in the evaluation sample, 38 percent were male and 62 percent were female. At baseline, 57 percent of students were age 19 or younger but the average age of students was 21.5 years, and 44 percent of students were Hispanic, 10 percent were White, 34 percent were Black, 8 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander, and 5 percent fell into the "Other" category. Moreover, 60 percent of students were incoming freshmen, 88 percent received a Pell Grant, and at least 87 percent of students had a developmental need in one or two classes (developmental need was unknown for 11 percent of students).
Intervention Group
The ASAP intervention is a three-year program that provides wraparound supports to students; it does not aim to alter classroom instruction. ASAP has four primary components: 1. Requirements and Messages: Students are required to attend college full time and are strongly encouraged to take developmental courses early and graduate within three years. 2. Student Services: In their first year, students received advisement from an ASAP adviser at least twice per month (average: 38 meetings per student during that time), support from an ASAP career and employment services staff member at least once per semester (average: nine meetings during that time), and one hour per week of tutoring from ASAP staff for each developmental course taken (tutoring was also required when students' GPA fell below 2.0) (average: 24 sessions during that time). 3. Course Enrollment: Students enroll in blocked or linked courses in their first year (i.e., multiple courses offered back-to-back or that have connected content and keep ASAP students together in the same courses). Students can also register for courses early, and enroll in an ASAP seminar during the first three semesters which covers topics such as student skills and goal setting. 4. Financial Supports: Students receive a tuition waiver that covers the gap between financial aid and college tuition and fees (an average of $719 per semester among the small percentage of students who received the waiver). Students also receive free public transportation for subway and bus travel (Metro Cards, which cost an average of $112 per month by the end of the third year of the study) and free use of textbooks (worth approximately $270 per semester). In addition, ASAP provided voluntary services to students, including access to a social work intern, a $500 per semester ASAP Transfer Scholarship to complete degrees at CUNY four-year colleges, and participation in a ASAP Student Leadership Program to develop leadership and public speaking skills. None of these offerings were widely used by students.
Comparison Group
Unlike ASAP, students in the comparison condition were not required to enroll full time. Students in the comparison group had access to the usual college services. On average in their first year, students in the comparison group had six meetings with an adviser, two meetings with career services, and seven tutoring sessions. Blocked or linked courses were available at two of the three colleges during the first semester, but enrollment in these courses is unknown. Some students also took a student success course or a freshman seminar during their first year. Students in the comparison group had no access to additional financial supports (i.e., tuition waivers, free MetroCards, or free use of textbooks).
Support for implementation
ASAP was initially funded in 2007 with a three-year, $20 million grant from the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO). ASAP is jointly administered by the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs and the participating community colleges.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
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