President Obama's plan for free tuition at community colleges sends a powerful signal of the importance of access to a quality education and of these vital front-line higher education institutions to America's future. We look forward to reviewing the details of the plan and working closely with the White House, United States Congress and leaders in New York in order to assess the likely impact on CUNY's 100,000 degree-seeking students in attendance at our seven community colleges and prospective applicants.
We are particularly encouraged by the President's recognition of CUNY's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) as a national model of effectiveness and successful student outcomes. In 2014, ASAP produced a three year graduation rate of 57%, over triple the rate of urban community colleges nation-wide. Overall the graduation rate since the program's inception has been over 50%.
We join with President Obama in offering ASAP as a national model to be expanded both here in New York and throughout the nation. Here at CUNY, more than seven out of ten full-time community college students attend tuition-free due to federal and state financial aid. We will be looking closely at the remaining costs in order to determine how the President's plan might assist greater numbers of students to achieve student success.
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