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Three-year systemwide graduation rate (%) – CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs students
Improve student outcomes — Increase graduation rates
CUNY's ASAP three-year graduation rate fell from 44.0% in Fiscal 2022 to 36.2% in Fiscal 2024 before recovering somewhat to 38.5% in Fiscal 2025. The Fiscal 2024 low matches ASAP's own documented decline for its fall 2020 entering cohort, which graduated at a three-year rate of 36.2% compared to 39.3% for the fall 2019 cohort — a drop tied to pandemic-era enrollment disruption. ASAP remains one of CUNY's most effective programs, roughly doubling graduation rates versus similar students outside it, but the City's proposed $41 million in permanent annual cuts for Fiscal 2024–2026 threatens the program's further expansion.
Researched July 17, 2026 — NYC Comptroller, "Cuts to CUNY", CUNY ASAP & ACE Fast Facts, April 2024
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
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| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 44% | 50% |
| FY23 | 39.4% | Not available |
| FY24 | 36.2% | Not available |
| FY25 | 38.5% | Not available |
| FY26 (YTD) | Not available | Not available |
Why this is tracked
CUNY traces back to the Free Academy, chartered in 1847 with founder Townsend Harris's mandate to "open the doors to all" regardless of wealth, at a time when higher education was reserved for the affluent. Tuition stayed free for 129 years until New York City's 1975-76 fiscal crisis forced the policy's end. Today, nearly half of CUNY students come from households earning less than $20,000 a year, and research has found CUNY propels roughly six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all Ivy League colleges combined. Programs like CUNY ASAP have shown dramatically higher graduation rates than the university average, which is part of why the University has continued to invest in closing equity and completion gaps.
Origins and Formative Years - The City University of New York, New Study Confirms CUNY's Power As National Engine Of Economic Mobility - CUNY
Source: Office of Applied Research, Evaluation, and Data Analytics — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported annually.
Definition: The percent of regularly admitted, full-time freshmen enrolled in CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) who earn a CUNY degree within three years of entry. For example, full-time, first-time, associate degree-seeking students entering a CUNY community college in Fall 2016 must earn a degree by August 2019 to be counted as having graduated within three years. Graduation rates are reported for the fiscal year corresponding with the end of the three-year period.