CUNY was once free; it can be free again — and well-funded.
Tens of thousands of poor and working-class New Yorkers, particularly people of color and immigrants, depend on CUNY as a gateway to good-paying jobs and mobility. But only 2 in 10 community college students graduate within 2 years. That is unacceptable.
To succeed, CUNY students need:
- Free tuition
- Individualized advising and faculty mentoring
- Free MetroCards
- Free textbooks
There is already a program that provides these things – ASAP (Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) and ACE (Accelerate Complete Engage).
Investing in and improving ASAP and ACE means doubling graduation rates, giving students access to upward mobility while saving the state $6,500 per graduating student in the long run. And, as NYS and NYC grapple with widening disparities, ASAP and ACE are powerful engines for racial and economic justice.
We demand that NY invest in public higher education and take an important step to create a truly free and quality CUNY:
Make ASAP and ACE available to all CUNY students NOW! Strengthen these programs to include a full tuition waiver to undocumented students and no cuts to other CUNY programs.
