Accelerated Study in Associate Programs Ohio (ASAP Ohio) provided community college students with up to three years of financial, academic, and personal supports to address barriers to success. Modeled on the ASAP program at the City University of New York (ASAP CUNY), academic supports included enhanced advising, career development services, and tutoring. Financial supports included a tuition waiver, assistance with textbook costs, and a monthly financial incentive. Personal supports included a first-year student success seminar that included strategies for goal setting, study skills, and career and academic planning.
Academic and financial supports were provided throughout the three-year program. Students were required to enroll full time and encouraged to enroll immediately in remedial coursework, as needed, and to take summer courses. Students were required to graduate within three years or enrollment and to enroll in a consolidated schedule, blocked courses, or both.
Eligible participants had to be eligible for a Pell Grant, seeking a degree, and enroll full-time in a three-year program. The study was conducted at three community colleges in Ohio.
The comparison group was students at the same colleges who were randomly assigned not to participate in ASAP Ohio but could access standard advising and support services offered by the colleges.
ASAP Ohio enrolled participants between January 2015 and January 2016 with a six-year follow-up period through 2023.
ASAP Ohio had five key components:
- Enhanced advising. In their first semester, students were required to meet twice a month with program advisers during their first semester and to attend a first-year student success seminar. After the first semester, advisers sorted students into three groups based on need for support, with varying advising requirements—students in the high-need group were required to meet more frequently with their adviser.
- Career development services and tutoring. Students were required to complete at least one career service activity per semester, which could include career services meetings, career assessments, internships, or job search skill-building workshops. Students were also required to attend at least three hours of academic tutoring per month, with options including on-campus, online, peer or family member, or ASAP program tutors.
- Course enrollment supports. Students were offered priority registration and blocked courses to allow participants to take courses together.
- Financial supports. Students whose tuition and fees were not fully covered by their financial aid were granted waivers to cover the difference. Students received financial support for textbooks (at least $300 for fall and spring semesters and $150 for summer). Students who met participation requirements received a monthly $50 gas or grocery gift card incentive.
The study did not discuss any formal tools to measure fidelity to the program model. The study did assess the extent to which the program model components aligned with or were adapted from the CUNY ASAP model and requirements and the extent to which students participated in the program’s services.
ASAP Ohio was funded during the study period by The Ascendium Education Group (anchor funding) and grants from a variety of other philanthropies, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the ECMC Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Haile U.S. Bank Foundation, KnowledgeWorks, the Kresge Foundation, the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, and the Lumina Foundation.
ASAP Ohio was implemented and studied in Cincinnati, OH (Cincinnati State Technical and Community College); Cleveland, OH (Cuyahoga Community College); and Elyria, OH (Lorain County Community College).
Three Ohio Community Colleges offered ASAP Ohio: Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Cuyahoga Community College, and Lorain County Community College. The program was managed locally by each participating college, which provided dedicated staffing for program implementation.
No partners beyond the colleges implementing the program were indicated for delivering ASAP Ohio. ASAP Ohio program staff had technical assistance available from ASAP CUNY staff.
ASAP Ohio served degree-seeking community college students who were eligible for Pell Grants. On average, study sample members were about 23 years old at random assignment. A majority of participants were female (64 percent). Just under half (46 percent) of participants were White, non-Hispanic and 35 percent were Black. Nearly 60 percent were working at the time of enrollment, and about a third (34 percent) were the first in their family to attend college.
ASAP Ohio provided up to 3 years of academic and financial assistance. The frequency of adviser meetings varied based on assessed student need. Adviser caseloads were limited to 125 students.
Each college implemented ASAP Ohio independently with their own dedicated staffing. Staff included the advisers and a program director who supervised advisers and was responsible for data management and reporting to the college provost or vice president. Implementing colleges had brief quarterly convening meetings facilitated by the Ohio Department of Higher Education and a CUNY ASAP technical assistance team.