Earn an Associates degree for free

For thousands of graduating high school seniors unsure of how to find the time or the money to further their education, help is on the way.
The new initiative, the Accelerated Study in Associate Program (ASAP), is designed to help the many city students facing challenges in attaining an Associates degree in higher education and will be completely free to those who qualify.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City University of New York (CUNY) Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said that ASAP, a three-year experiment, will begin at the start of the 2007-2008 academic school year this fall.
Following a recommendation by the Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) first outlined in Mayor Bloomberg’s State of the City address on January 17, the program will do more than provide students with the tools necessary for a structured, effective route towards a degree.
Because so many of the students - up to 60 percent - who attend the various community colleges in the city are also juggling part-time jobs as well as the care of small children, among other things with their studies, ASAP will be able to work around their schedules, increasing their chances for completing their degree programs.
With the new program, students will now be able to remedy many of these obstacles with block scheduling, a system that gives students the option of taking classes in the morning, afternoon or at night.
Students will also be able to take advantage of small groups of not more than 25 students who will all share the same schedule as well as the same academic interests for the duration of the program.
An on-campus tutorial support and mentoring service will be available, which ASAP hopes will ensure that students receive the academic guidance required to reach their full potential.
Besides the two Queens-based CUNY community colleges that are taking part in the new system - LaGuardia and Queensborough - four other schools involved are Borough of Manhattan, Bronx, Hostos and Kingsborough Community Colleges.
Some of the basic requirements necessary for high school seniors looking to qualify for the ASAP program are a score of at least 470 on both the math as well as the verbal portions of the SAT exam and a Regents score of at least 75 in both reading and math. Passing scores in either math or reading and writing on the CUNY basic skills placement tests are also required.
Students with scores that are almost satisfactory in one and passing in the other can be admitted to ASAP on the condition that they attend summer school and retake the test that they failed the first time around. Freshmen entering the program must also be college-ready, leaving no remedial courses unsatisfied.
As far as transfer students and those with previous college course work are concerned, they are eligible for the ASAP program as long as they have no more than 12 credits under their belt - the equivalent of one full-time semester.
The Mayor’s office verified that CEO will fund the program’s first three years with an annual price tag of $6.5 million.
Carol B. Kellerman, the Executive Director of Learning Leaders, an organization responsible for training and screening volunteers who provide individualized instructional support to New York City public school students, said that the city’s guidance counselors have the tools and information they needed to inform their students about this upcoming opportunity.
Interested students should visit www.nyc.gov, or call 3-1-1 to learn more about the programs at the six campuses and eligibility requirements. More information is available on CUNY’s website at www.cuny.edu/asap or by contacting CUNY at 800-CUNY-YES.