A landmark 14-year study of the City University of New York’s highly regarded ASAP program reveals a surprising twist: while the initiative has significantly boosted degree completion rates and helped students graduate faster, those extra credentials haven’t led to measurable increases in earnings—a stark contrast to the broader trend that college degrees typically correlate with higher pay. Researchers are grappling with why this gap exists, as the program’s success in accelerating graduation stands in tension with its failure to deliver the expected financial returns. The findings challenge assumptions about how degree attainment directly impacts economic outcomes, raising questions about what success in higher education truly means.
Every community college reformer wants to help more students earn degrees and get through college faster. A much-admired City University of New York support program has done that, some say brilliantly — but a recent 14-year study finds that those additional degrees haven’t translated into higher earnings. That’s a puzzle. College graduates generally earn more […] The post More degrees but not higher earnings: Puzzling data from CUNY’s famed ASAP program appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
