This paper presents new estimates of the effects of the City University of New York (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) model, evaluated using a randomized controlled trial first in New York and later through a replication in Ohio. It describes longer-term effects of CUNY ASAP in New York, showing that the program’s effects on associate’s degree receipt persisted through eight years and likely represent a permanent increase in degree receipt. The paper also offers an analysis from the pooled study samples in New York and Ohio. The findings indicate that the program has consistent effects on degree receipt across different states but also for somewhat different levels of service contrast, such as the number of additional advising visits.

Among the tested policies, one program model stands out: the City University of New York (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP). Designed and implemented by CUNY to help more students graduate, and more quickly, ASAP is more intensive and lasts longer than most community college reforms. It was evaluated at three CUNY colleges using a randomized controlled trial that started in 2009. The evaluation found that the program led to a substantial boost in the number of students who graduated—increasing three-year graduation rates by 18 percentage points. This exceptional result prompted three Ohio community colleges (at four campuses) to replicate the program.

Three-year findings from the test in Ohio also showed a large increase, of 16 percentage points, in graduation rates (Miller, Headlam, Manno, and Cullinan, 2019). This outcome was encouraging, given that the replication of findings from a given test of an educational intervention is the exception rather than the norm (see, for example, Camerer et al., 2018). The findings from Ohio showed not only that the model could be implemented with a high degree of fidelity in another setting but that it could have similarly positive and large effects.

In sum, the findings show that ASAP’s effect on the receipt of associate’s degrees persisted through eight years, although it did not lead to a long-term increase in the receipt of bachelor’s degrees. The effects on the receipt of associate’s degrees indicate that the program not only helped students graduate faster but also helped students graduate who would never have done so without the additional support. The effects across both states through three years provide further evidence of the program’s effectiveness, for students in general and for different types of students. Finally, the effects by state and by campus suggest that there is a positive association between service contrast, or effects on advising visits, for example, and degree impacts. However, beyond some level, there may be diminishing returns. In other words, increasing advising by 15 visits per semester may not lead to much larger effects on degree receipt than increasing advising by 8 visits per semester. Because the model does cost more than the usual services that are offered to students, colleges will need to compare the resources needed to generate increases in service contrast with the additional degrees the expanded services generate. More broadly, the consistency of findings across the states and colleges suggests that the results are likely to generalize beyond these students and colleges, furthering the idea of ASAP as a national model to increase educational attainment.