Accelerate, Complete, Engage Program (ACE) at John Jay College

Institution:

City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

State:

New York

Academic Level:

Baccalaureate

Issue Area:

Retention

Program Focus:

First Year Support, Scholarship

Website:

http://jjay.cuny.edu/ace-john-jay

Key Personnel:

DeLandra Hunter

Contact Info:

dhunter@jjay.cuny.edu | 212.887.6136

Overview

The Accelerate, Complete, Engage Program (ACE) is a comprehensive academic support program designed to help students complete their academic journey towards a bachelor’s degree on time. ACE provides intensive academic advising, career development, tuition scholarships, textbooks, and transportation assistance. The college’s mission is “educating for justice” and one of the ways it lives up to this ideal is by providing Latino students opportunities to obtain undergraduate degrees with the support of John Jay ACE.

Accelerate, Complete, Engage Program at John Jay College

Program Description

To date, ACE has expanded to serve seven cohorts of students and has expanded to six campuses across the university. ACE students receive financial resources that remove barriers to full-time college study. Some of the resources include eliminating any gap between need-based financial aid and tuition and fees, monthly unlimited NYC Transit Metrocards, and textbook assistance. Students are assigned an ACE academic advisor for academic, social, and interpersonal support from entry through graduation.

Outcome

Across three cohorts (Fall 2015, Fall 2017, and Fall 2018), two things are evident. First, ACE consistently lifts up graduation rates for both Latino and non-Latino students suggesting the program is effective for all students regardless of ethnicity. Secondly, the comparison groups have disparities in the four-year graduation rates between Latino and non-Latino students, but there is no disparity by ethnicity seen in the four-year graduation rate, suggesting that ACE is effective in supporting Latino students holistically. Information about ACE’s four-year graduation rates include:

Fall 2018 cohort (ACE N=285, Comparison Group N=285): ACE: Latino 57%, Non-Latino 55%, All 56%. Comparison Group: Latino 42%, Non-Latino 47%, All 45%.
Fall 2017 cohort (ACE N=357, Comparison Group N=354): ACE: Latino 59%, Non-Latino 61%, All 60%. Comparison Group: Latino 38%, Non-Latino 44%, All 41%.
Fall 2015 cohort (ACE N=262, Comparison Group N=261): ACE: Latino 54%, Non-Latino 62%, All 58%. Comparison Group: Latino 38%, Non-Latino 45%, All 42%.

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