Ivy Tech ASAP effort earns 90 percent retention for 2017-18 school year

INDIANAPOLIS — During the 2017-18 school year, Ivy Tech Community College’s Associate Accelerated Program (ASAP) achieved a 90 percent student retention rate. Through the program, 154 students were able to earn an associate degree in less than one year’s time.

Ivy Tech’s ASAP program provides at-risk high school students facing life and family issues that prevent them from completing a degree, the opportunity to earn a marketable and transferable associate degree on a full-time basis in just 11 months. Most students who are chosen for the program are identified while still in high school and are the first in their families to attend college.

ASAP prepares students to transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Of ASAP graduates who apply, 100 percent are accepted by at least one four-year college, allowing them to transfer their credits to a bachelor’s degree with junior status in most cases.

Depending on the student’s eligibility, most ASAP students are able to complete the associate degree program for free or at little cost.

Since ASAP’s inception, the program has enrolled 1,236 students, with another 300 students enrolled for the 2018-19 school year.

The program provides wraparound support with dedicated program mentors. Students attend as a group, which allows them to form a learning community and provide peer support for each other. ASAP also incorporates service learning, allowing students to give back to the community outside the classroom.

Through ASAP, students can get a degree in liberal arts, business administration, education, informatics or healthcare specialist. The program was launched in the fall of 2010 at two campuses and has since expanded to 16 Ivy Tech campuses statewide, including Greencastle.

Ivy Tech Community College serves communities across Indiana, providing world-class education and driving economic transformation. It is the state’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system.