Increasing Community College Completion Rates Through Policy Change, Structured Resources, and Alternate Spending

• In Event: Roundtable Session 8

Session Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract

College graduation rates, especially at the community colleges, are dismal. According to the US Department of Education, only 22% earn an associate’s degree within three years. This symposium will present City University of New York (CUNY) community college completion findings from three different perspectives (macro, micro, and cost-benefit) to show that the current low completion rates can be increased by adopting successful policies and structures from CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) that have been found to increase completion rates. Finally, the cost benefit analysis will discuss expanding these policies and structures to more students based on the findings that the benefits of graduating a large group of community college students outweigh the additional programs costs.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Section 7: Social Policy and Social Context

Chair

• Drew Allen, City University of New York

Papers

• Graduating Students From City University of New York’s Community Colleges - Colin Chellman, City University of New York; Simon McDonnell, City University of New York

• Increasing Community College Completion Rates: Policy and Expansion From Accelerated Study in Associate Programs - Donna Linderman, City University of New York; Zineta Kolenovic, City University of New York

• Benefit-Cost Analysis of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs of the City University of New York - Henry M. Levin, Teachers College, Columbia University; Emma Garcia, Economic Policy Institute