ACE program to be offered at SUNY Old Westbury starting this fall

SUNY Old Westbury students who need help completing their degree will soon have a new tool to aid them.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this week that the SUNY school system will expand its ASAP/ACE program to nine additional campuses, including SUNY Old Westbury, this fall.

ASAP, which stands for Advancing Success in Associate Pathways, is meant for associate degree students. ACE, short for Advancing Completion through Engagement, helps baccalaureate students. Both provide students who have demonstrated financial need with personalized advising, monetary support to cover expenses like books and transportation, and other services.

"We're excited to bring ACE to our campus. Enrolling as a full-time student is the fastest pathway for students to complete their studies and move on into their careers and lives," Timothy Sams, president of SUNY Old Westbury, said in a statement. "As an ACE campus, we will provide important extra academic, financial and other supports to help a larger number of students stay on that path."

University officials said the program will be available to 150 students. SUNY students who receive federal Pell Grant funding or state TAP or Excelsior aid are "likely" to be eligible, according to the program's website.

State officials said in a release that preliminary data demonstrates "participating students have higher credit completion and persistence rates than similar non-ASAP/ACE students."

Students that participated in ASAP have a "20% higher credit completion rate" than non-ASAP students, according to the release. Students pursuing bachelor’s degrees while enrolled in ACE, meanwhile, have a 9% higher credit completion rate than "similar non-ACE students," the release said.

The community colleges in Nassau and Suffolk currently offer the ASAP program. The ACE program was introduced at Farmingdale State College in spring 2024 and provides services to about 215 full-time students.

“We’re looking to provide support and services to students who have demonstrated financial need,” said Georgia Kalamidas, Farmingdale's ACE director. “I think the impact is large … because we’re working with a population that can at times feel vulnerable to reach out for the support themselves, and don’t really know what that support can look like or should look like.”

Kalamidas praised the expansion of the program, which she said can help students with financial constraints or other needs as they work to complete their higher education degree.

State officials said a total of 34 SUNY campuses will feature the ASAP/ACE program this fall. It’s expected to help 7,050 students.

The expansion will be funded with $12 million allocated from the state budget adopted in May. The goal is to reach 10,000 students by fall 2026, the release said.

"New York State is committed to helping our students reach their highest potential, and ASAP/ACE is a proven program to ensure students complete their degree on the path to a great job," Hochul said in the release. "ASAP/ACE has already assisted thousands of New Yorkers in their higher education journey, and I am proud that more students will benefit from its expansion."

Along with SUNY Old Westbury, the University at Albany, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Delhi and SUNY Oneonta also will participate in the ACE program in the fall. Dutchess, Monroe, Onondaga and Tompkins Cortland community colleges will offer the ASAP program.