Dear Commons Community,

As posted yesterday in this blog, President Obama proposed a program that would insure free tuition for most community college students.  While the program faces significant hurdles in the Congress, symbolically it is an important first step. As a follow-up to the President’s proposal, CUNY’s ASAP program was prominently mentioned in the White House fact sheet as follows:

“Colleges must also adopt promising and evidence-based institutional reforms to improve student outcomes, such as the effective Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) programs at the City University of New York which waive tuition, help students pay for books and transit costs, and provide academic advising and supportive scheduling programs to better meet the needs of participating students, resulting in greater gains in college persistence and degree completion.”

Tony