Community Groups, Unions, Students Launch Citywide Day of Action to Demand that New York “Fund CUNY ASAP”
New York, NY – Students, community groups and unions launched a Citywide Day of Action today to demand that Albany and City Hall fully fund the City University of New York (CUNY) and expand programs shown to double graduation rates and save CUNY $6,500 per graduate. These programs—Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) and Accelerate Complete Engage (ACE)—offer smaller classes and better advisement, as well as free tuition, MetroCards and books.
The Day of Action was part of the Fund CUNY ASAP campaign organized by the CUNY Rising Alliance, a coalition of 33 organizations that fights for free and quality education at CUNY.
Anthony J. Vancol, a psychology major at Queens College who graduated from ASAP at Queensborough Community College, is helping with the campaign because ASAP made a difference for him.
“When I had ASAP, I had resources like a MetroCard, textbook vouchers, an advisor to help me with anything going on academically or personally. If I did not have ASAP, I don’t think I would have graduated in the two years that I did. Now I’ve transitioned into a four-year school and it’s become a lot more difficult buying MetroCards on a week-to-week basis. It’s affected my academics worrying about getting to class,” said Vancol.
Timed to coincide with the CUNY Board of Trustees’ formulation of the University’s budget request to the State and City for the next fiscal year, the day featured petitioning blitzes on ten campuses in all five boroughs organized by NYPIRG, members of the faculty and staff union, CUNY Rising, and the CUNY University Student Senate.
“I am proud of our students for standing up for real investment in CUNY and expansion of opportunity programs that transform the lives of low-income and immigrant students,” said Haris Khan, president of the University Student Senate and the only student serving on the CUNY Board of Trustees.
The petition addressed to Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio demands that New York fully fund CUNY and make ASAP and ACE available to all CUNY students. Per-student State support for CUNY senior colleges declined by 18% between 2008 and 2018. And the State’s refusal to fund collective bargaining costs has forced colleges to cut their already reduced budgets for academic programs and student support. City and State funding for the CUNY community colleges has been increasing, but not nearly enough to support CUNY-wide ASAP-level investments in student success.
“CUNY ASAP funding must be a priority in the upcoming State and City budgets. Expanding ASAP and increasing it to include all CUNY students in need is what truly free college in New York City would look like. From covering the cost of tuition to MetroCards for travel, –ASAP is a program that tackles barriers that often prevent working-class students from affording college,” said Carlos Calzadilla, president of Young Progressives of America.
Community groups, including the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, the Professional Staff Congress, the Alliance for Quality Education, and the Retail Action Project collected online petition signatures via email blasts and social media.
Hundreds of thousands of poor and working-class New Yorkers depend on CUNY as a gateway to good-paying jobs and social mobility. For people of color, who make up 79% of CUNY undergrads, and immigrants with or without documentation, CUNY is a way to overcome barriers erected by racism and systemic injustice.
But just two in ten community college students at CUNY graduate within three years. ASAP students have a three-year graduation rate of 53%.
The 21,000+ students enrolled in ASAP at nine community colleges are more likely to succeed at CUNY and graduate faster than other CUNY students because they receive high-contact teaching and advisement and robust supports that CUNY cannot afford to offer to most students. ACE is a pilot program that applies the ASAP model to baccalaureate students at John Jay College. Students enrolled in ACE are twice as likely to be on track to graduate as other students at John Jay.
The programs cost more per student but, per graduate, cost $6,500 less than CUNY spends on a regular community college student, according to an independent analysis. Student not enrolled in ASAP or other targeted programs have access to fewer supports and are less likely to graduate.
Twenty-two percent of CUNY students report not being able to register for a course they need to graduate. Student-to-advisor ratios range from 600:1 to 1000:1. CUNY fails to pay competitive salaries. Its students vent on social mediaabout its crumbling infrastructure, and most the courses are taught by adjunct professors paid a near-poverty wage.
“CUNY knows how to support students who are struggling to graduate. It knows how to lift students out of poverty. ASAP and ACE show what CUNY can be if it is well funded. It’s time for Albany and City Hall to do the right thing and fully fund CUNY,” said Smitha Varghese, NYPIRG Board Chair.
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