Post-Secondary Education – Building Better Programs https://www.buildingbetterprograms.org Resources for Improving TANF and Related Work Programs Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:53:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 MDRC: Four-Year Effects on Degree Receipt and Employment Outcomes from a Performance-Based Scholarship Program in Ohio https://www.buildingbetterprograms.org/2015/04/06/mdrc-four-year-effects-on-degree-receipt-and-employment-outcomes-from-a-performance-based-scholarship-program-in-ohio/ Mon, 06 Apr 2015 17:53:10 +0000 http://www.buildingbetterprograms.org/?p=1125 Read more]]> This random assignment study examines the long-term impacts of a community college program offering financial aid that is contingent on academic performance. Focusing on low-income parents, mostly mothers, it finds that the program decreased the time it took students to earn a degree but did not increase employment or earnings.

Four-Year Effects on Degree Receipt and Employment Outcomes from a Performance-Based Scholarship Program in Ohio

]]> MDRC: Doubling Graduation Rates https://www.buildingbetterprograms.org/2015/02/26/mdrc-doubling-graduation-rates/ Thu, 26 Feb 2015 18:41:28 +0000 http://www.buildingbetterprograms.org/?p=977 Read more]]> Community colleges offer a pathway to the middle class for low-income individuals. Although access to college has expanded, graduation rates at community colleges remain low, especially for students who need developmental (remedial) courses to build their math, reading, or writing skills. Many reforms have been found to help students in the short term, but few have substantially boosted college completion. The City University of New York’s (CUNY’s) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), launched in 2007 with funding from the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity, is an uncommonly comprehensive and long-term program designed to help more students graduate and help them graduate more quickly.

This report presents results from a random assignment study of ASAP at three CUNY community colleges: Borough of Manhattan, Kingsborough, and LaGuardia. Low-income students who needed one or two developmental courses were randomly assigned either to a program group, who could participate in ASAP, or to a control group, who could receive the usual college services. Comparing the two groups’ outcomes provides an estimate of ASAP’s effects. Key findings from the report include the following:

  • ASAP was well implemented.
  • ASAP substantially improved students’ academic outcomes over three years, almost doubling graduation rates.
  • At the three-year point, the cost per degree was lower in ASAP than in the control condition.

Doubling Graduation Rates: Three-Year Effects of CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) for Developmental Education Students

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