SUNY Chancellor King Celebrates Expansion of Nation-Leading College Completion Initiatives to SUNY Brockport
September 4, 2026
Governor Hochul’s ACE|ASAP Expansion Enables Proven Programs to Reach 10,000 Students at 44 SUNY Campuses; Photos Available Here
ASAP and ACE Help Students Gain and Maintain Academic Momentum So They Can Graduate on Time
Brockport, NY — The State University of New York Chancellor John B. King Jr. celebrated the expansion of SUNY's Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) and Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE), the nation's leading college retention and completion models, during a visit to SUNY Brockport with SUNY Board Trustee Bruce Simon, President Dawn Meza Soufleris, and the campus community. The initiatives help students gain and maintain academic momentum so they can graduate on time. Through an additional $8 million allocated in the 2026-27 Enacted State Budget, ASAP (for students pursuing associate degrees) and ACE (for students pursuing bachelor's degrees) have expanded to serve 10,000 students at 44 SUNY campuses, including SUNY Brockport, beginning in the fall 2026 semester.
"SUNY's ASAP|ACE programs are a vital part of SUNY's commitment to supporting student success," said SUNY Chancellor King. "These programs ensure that more SUNY students are able to access important support services so they can complete their degree on time, and move forward on a path to upward mobility. I am thrilled to see how campuses like SUNY Brockport are implementing these programs and supporting our students at every stage of their academic journey."
SUNY Board Trustee Bruce Simon said, "Thanks to the support of Governor Hochul and the State Legislature, SUNY has been able to expand the evidence-based ASAP|ACE completion initiatives to reach more students throughout the state. Through this significant expansion, SUNY will continue to advance toward its goal of ensuring every student has the tools they need to stay on track and complete their degrees. I appreciate the work of the faculty and staff who dedicate themselves to providing wraparound services and supports to these amazing students."
SUNY's Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP) supports students pursuing associate degrees, while Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE) supports students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Both programs provide students access to a wide variety of resources and support to help them overcome barriers that can prevent them from obtaining a degree, including comprehensive personalized advisement, academic support, career development activities, as well as funding to cover textbooks, groceries, transportation, and other costs of attendance. At SUNY Brockport, ACE recently launched in the Fall 2026 semester to serve 150 students. To learn more about SUNY Brockport's ACE program, visit www.brockport.edu/academics/advisement/ace/.
SUNY Brockport President Dawn Meza Soufleris said, "We are incredibly excited to bring SUNY ACE to the SUNY Brockport campus. This program will allow us to offer additional academic, financial, and personal support to 150 students — ensuring that they have the resources they need to be successful and graduate on time. I look forward to seeing these students flourish in the years to come. We are deeply grateful to Governor Hochul, the New York State Legislature, the SUNY Board of Trustees and Chancellor King for the support that makes this program possible.
In June, SUNY announced the expansion of ASAP|ACE to serve 10,000 students at 44 SUNY campuses starting in the Fall 2026 semester. ASAP was expanded to six more community colleges, including SUNY Adirondack, Columbia-Greene Community College, Fulton-Montgomery Community College, SUNY Niagara, North Country Community College, and SUNY Sullivan County Community College. ACE was expanded to four more State-operated campuses, including Alfred State College, SUNY Brockport, SUNY Cortland, and SUNY Geneseo.
Additionally, 16 partner campuses with existing programs expanded their capacity to serve additional students. Six community college campuses with ASAP programs in place, including Hudson Valley Community College, Nassau Community College, Rockland Community College, SUNY Schenectady Community College, Suffolk County Community College, and Westchester Community College, and 10 State-operated campuses with ACE programs in place, including the State University of New York at Albany, Buffalo State University, SUNY Delhi, Farmingdale State College, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and SUNY Old Westbury, expanded their capacity to serve additional students.
Compared to similar students, ASAP|ACE participants are attempting and earning more credits and are more likely to remain enrolled or complete a degree in the semesters following their entry into the program. ASAP students are earning up to 1.4 more credits than matched comparison students in their first semester, with retention rates increasing over time and reaching 12.3 percentage points higher than matched comparison students by the fourth semester. ACE students are earning up to 1.7 more credits than matched comparison students by their third semester, with retention rates reaching 8.6 percentage points higher than matched comparison students by the fourth semester. These positive outcomes are consistent across semesters and student groups, underscoring the program’s early impact on academic momentum and timely degree completion. For more information on ASAP|ACE, visit: https://www.suny.edu/asap-ace/.
The expansion of ASAP|ACE is a result of the Enacted 2026-27 State Budget and is part of SUNY's 2026 State of the University Agenda, which describes how the programs have transformed the lives of students throughout the SUNY System. The expansion also advances SUNY's Academic Momentum Campaign, which provides SUNY campuses with financial support and technical assistance to strengthen student retention and completion rates. While SUNY's current completion rates exceed the national averages for public institutions awarding on time bachelor's and associate degrees, SUNY seeks to help all students who start their degrees have the supports they need to finish. Chancellor King's 2026 State of the University Agenda includes additional initiatives to continue strengthening academic momentum so more students make it to, and through the SUNY campus of their choice.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state's only college of optometry, 12 Educational Opportunity Centers, over 30 ATTAIN digital literacy labs, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.7 million students across its portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and annually one in three New Yorkers who earn a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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