Meeting the Moment with SUCCESS
Executive Summary
The Supporting Urgent Community College Equity through Student Services (SUCCESS) program is Massachusetts’ statewide investment in Student Support Services designed to improve persistence and close equity gaps in degree attainment. Launched in FY2021 across all 15 community colleges, SUCCESS supports both full- and part-time learners; particularly those who are low-income, first-generation, students of color, students with disabilities, or LGBTQ+. The program serves many students who are balancing college with work, caregiving, and financial pressures.
SUCCESS provides advising, coaching, peer mentoring, affinity groups, tutoring, and other student support services focused primarily on academic and developmental supports that help students navigate coursework and institutional processes.
Why This Matters Now
Despite efforts to improve college outcomes for students, especially those from historically marginalized communities, completion rates remain stubbornly low in Massachusetts: the state ranks 6th lowest nationally for six-year community college graduation rates. Only 35.2% of students earn a degree within six years, a rate that has stagnated since 2018 and is about 20% lower than the national average (43.8%).
Community colleges, which enroll a disproportionate share of students facing academic, financial, and personal barriers, operate with fewer resources than four-year institutions. Thus, these low completion rates often reflect underfunding, not student ability.
At the same time, Massachusetts is experiencing an unprecedented surge in community college enrollment, a 38.5% increase since Fall 2022, representing roughly 24,000 additional students, driven by free-tuition initiatives like MassReconnect (2023) and MassEducate (2024). While these landmark programs have dramatically expanded access, they also risk overwhelming institutions already operating under resource constraints. Without adequate support systems, the influx of new students could exacerbate already alarming success outcome metrics.
In response, the state’s Commission on Higher Education Quality and Affordability (CHEQA) recently outlined a bold agenda calling for streamlined aid, increased basic needs support, and faculty investment. Its top recommendation: Scale up evidence-based student support programs to improve degree completion.
SUCCESS is one such program. Preliminary data shows that it is effective at increasing presistence rates, especially for part-time at-risk students. However, current funding (~$14M across the state’s 15 community colleges) reaches just 8% of community college students. Without broader investment, many will enroll, but not finish.
What the Research Shows
A growing body of rigorous research, including randomized controlled trials and strong evidence from CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) and its replications, demonstrates that advising is most effective when delivered as part of a holistic, integrated support model. These Comprehensive Student Supports combine frequent, proactive advising with academic and career support services, financial aid, basic needs assistance, and community-building activities to address both academic and non-academic barriers.
The most impactful programs, such as ASAP, provide cohesive, mandatory, and student-centered experiences that nearly double graduation rates among full-time community college students. Due to its demonstrated effectiveness, ASAP has been designated as Tier 1 – Strong Evidence by the U.S. Department of Education’s What Works Clearinghouse.
Why Not Just Replicate ASAP?
While ASAP offers a compelling, evidence-based model for increasing student completion rates, it was built for a narrow population: first-time degree-seekers and full-time students with limited developmental needs. In 2024, ASAP reached only 26% of associate degree seekers at CUNY. A similar limitation would apply in Massachusetts if ASAP was replicated, where 73% of community college students attend part-time and often face greater academic, financial, and personal barriers.
In comparison, SUCCESS was designed to serve the most disadvantaged students, many of whom have multiple developmental and support needs, including part-time students, adults returning to college, and others balancing school with work or caregiving.
Emerging models like Nashville Flex (NashFlex) and Ohio’s PT SAIL reinforce this broader approach. Both programs adapt key features of ASAP to better serve part-time learners, combining advising, financial assistance, and structured pathways to support persistence and timely completion. Like SUCCESS, they are still early in implementation, creating a unique opportunity for shared learning and innovation across states.
Therefore, because they serve different populations, SUCCESS should be viewed as a companion, not a substitute, for ASAP. That said, while SUCCESS has adopted elements like structured advising, it has not yet incorporated ASAP’s full integration of financial aid and non-academic supports. It can enhance its impact by evolving toward a more coordinated and comprehensive student service model.
Scaling SUCCESS Toward a Comprehensive Student Support System
Massachusetts has many of the right pieces in place, SUCCESS programs, career centers, and last-dollar aid initiatives like MassReconnect and MassEducate. Campuses also provide valuable wraparound services, such as Single Stop, food pantries, emergency aid, and wellness centers. Yet to students, these supports often feel fragmented and disconnected.
To realize SUCCESS’s full potential, the state should take a phased approach to scaling academic and career advising to reach all students, while integrating these services with financial aid and campus-based wraparound supports. A practical first step would be tying Free Tuition programs’ cost-of-living stipends to SUCCESS participation, linking financial assistance directly to engagement in student support programs. This alignment can strengthen student connection, improve persistence, and ensure that resources reach those who need them most.
By positioning SUCCESS as the coordinating framework across this broader ecosystem, Massachusetts can build a seamless, proactive, advisor-led support system. Embedding triage and early-alert models will ensure baseline support for all students and more intensive help for those with greater needs.
The state has the right ingredients; the next step is to bring them together—scaling high-impact, integrated supports that drive student persistence, completion, and long-term success.
Recommendations
Leverage campus innovations and national learning. Identify and codify high-impact SUCCESS practices for statewide scaling, while allowing flexibility for local adaptation and continuous learning from emerging national models that support part-time students.
Make advising proactive and consistent. Establish minimum professional advising contacts, implement early-alert systems, and maintain manageable caseloads.
Integrate supports across systems. Bundle SUCCESS advising and coaching with financial aid and embed wraparound supports to address students’ academic, financial, and personal needs holistically.
Align funding with scale, equity, and implementation quality. Fund at $2,500–$2,800 per student with multi-year commitments, tied to the faithful delivery of core program components as defined by statewide standards.
Standardize data, definitions, and evaluation. Establish clear definitions of program participation and core service components across campuses. Track key outcomes disaggregated by student subgroup and enrollment intensity to drive continuous improvement and inform funding decisions.
Conclusion
Though still early, SUCCESS is demonstrating measurable progress for some of Massachusetts’ most at-risk students. Access without support will not close equity gaps.
By learning from ASAP’s integrated structure while adapting to the realities of part-time enrollment, Massachusetts can lead the next generation of evidence-based, equity-driven community college reform. With sustained investment, integration, and accountability, SUCCESS can evolve into a truly Comprehensive Student Support system, one that advances readiness, wellness, persistence, completion, and long-term economic mobility.
