Suffolk County Community College expands SUNY ASAP to support more students
Julio Salgado said ASAP has made his Suffolk experience much smoother as the college added 50 more seats, lifting enrollment to 300 and widening help for books, transit and advising.
At Suffolk County Community College’s Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood, first-semester student Julio Salgado of Bay Shore said the ASAP program has made his Suffolk experience much smoother. The college announced Tuesday that 50 more students will join the program, raising total ASAP enrollment to 300 and expanding access to advising, tutoring and financial help for associate-degree students.
ASAP is built to keep students moving toward graduation with academic advising, career development support, tutoring and aid for textbooks, transportation and other education costs. Salgado, who is studying general studies and plans to switch to criminal justice, gets more structured support as he works toward a degree at Suffolk.
The expansion at Suffolk is part of SUNY’s larger push to serve 10,000 students across 44 campuses by fall 2026. The growth is backed by an additional $8 million in the 2026-27 state budget, bringing the annual state investment in ASAP and ACE to $20 million. Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Edward T. Bonahue said the added seats will help more students stay on track, overcome barriers and achieve their educational goals, while SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said the programs are designed to help students complete their degrees on time and move toward upward mobility.
When ASAP launched on Suffolk’s three campuses in 2024, it served 160 students. Suffolk later reported that its spring 2024 cohort posted a 91% retention rate into fall 2024, a 3.11 average GPA and 13.67 average credits earned. In that cohort, 18.8% of students were parents balancing college with family responsibilities.
Suffolk County increased the SUNY Transformational Fund grant tied to the program by $70,028, bringing it to $647,938 for the period from Sept. 1, 2025, through Aug. 31, 2026. The funding was aimed at advising, mentoring, scholarships for outstanding tuition and fees, retention, full-time enrollment and two-year completion.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Know something we missed? Have a correction or additional information?
Submit a Tip
