With 409 participants, SUNY Oswego has the largest participation in SUNY's Advancing Completion through Engagement (ACE) program supporting student success and retention. The university and partners recently marked the occasion by sharing student stories and the insights of officials at an event at SUNY Oswego's Syracuse Campus.
ACE provides both financial resources and wraparound support to remove barriers to full-time study, help students gain and maintain academic momentum, and foster a connected community among students, all in service of increasing timely degree completion.
Attendees had the opportunity to hear Oswego students Liza Crouse, Jovani Robledo and Rachael Rose; Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Success Donna Linderman, who led the creation of the ACE program; SUNY Oswego President Peter O. Nwosu; and State Senators Chris Ryan and Rachel May.
"While the overall retention rate for the program is 76.6 percent, it is more dramatic when you compare ACE students with non-ACE students from similar backgrounds –- first-gen, Pell-eligible or from underrepresented backgrounds," President Nwosu noted. "In fact, 84 percent of our ACE students from these high-risk populations returned for their second year, compared to just 69 percent of similar students not enrolled in ACE. That gap demonstrates the power of ACE to change trajectories and open doors that might otherwise remain closed to them."
