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College Preparation, Pre-College and Support Programs

ACADEMIC SUCCESS CENTER (ASC)

Academic Advisement
Manager: Cheryl Walker
Nichols Hall [NI], Room 407 | 718.289.5401

Academic.Advisement@bcc.cuny.edu

The Academic Success Center (ASC) supports all students who are not enrolled in ASAP or College Discovery. Our dedicated advisors work in partnership with faculty, staff and other campus resources to provide personalized guidance every step of the way. At ASC, our mission is to help the student cross the finish line—and prepare for what comes next—by connecting the student with academic departments, transfer opportunities, and all student support services.

ACCELERATED STUDY IN ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (ASAP)

Director: Melanie M. Robles
Nichols Hall [NI], Room 411 | 718.289.5166

Accelerated Study in Academic Programs (ASAP) is a comprehensive program designed to help associate degree-seeking students earn their degrees as quickly as possible, with a goal of graduating at least 50% of students within three years. Due to a variety of stresses and responsibilities, many students are not able to complete their associate degrees in a timely manner. ASAP helps to eliminate these stresses by providing students with the academic, social and financial support they need to graduate with an Associate in Arts, Associate in Science or Associate in Applied Science degree in no more than three years. ASAP features include individualized course scheduling consults, required full-time study, and comprehensive and personalized advisement and career readiness development services. Thanks to the program’s enhanced academic structure and financial support, ASAP students can graduate from Bronx Community College within two to three years.

ASAP students receive a variety of supports to ensure their success, including:

  • An OMNY card to assist with public transportation

  • Supplemental textbook assistance to reduce the cost of textbooks

  • A tuition waiver for any gap between full-time tuition and fees and financial aid awards (for students in receipt of financial aid)

  • One-on-one support from a dedicated ASAP adviser

  • Early registration options and course scheduling consults

  • Enhanced career readiness development and academic support services

Selection Criteria:

Students may be eligible for ASAP at BCC if they:

  • Qualify for New York City resident tuition

  • Agree to enter into a full-time associate degree program in an ASAP BCC-approved major

  • Have zero to no more than 21 college credits earned and for continuing students a minimum GPA of 2.0

  • Students may not participate in both SEEK/College Discovery and ASAP.

Eligible Majors:

ASAP at BCC accepts most majors in the following degree types:

  • Associate in Arts Degree (AA)

  • Associate in Science Degree (AS)

  • Associate in Applied Sciences Degree (AAS)

ASAP at BCC does NOT accept students pursuing certificate programs or the following majors:

  • Nuclear Medicine Technology AAS

  • Radiologic Technology AAS

COLLEGE DISCOVERY

Director: Cynthia Suarez-Espinal
Loew Hall [LO], Room 406 | 718.289.5882

The College Discovery (CD) Program is a two-year opportunity program offered at the six community colleges across CUNY. CD at BCC provides vital support for students to develop essential skills for academic success and personal growth. CD students are provided with financial assistance, personalized academic guidance, and counseling services. The program creates a nurturing environment where students can complete an associate's degree and transition smoothly into a bachelor's degree program upon graduation.  

Eligibility Criteria:

Key Benefits:

  • Tuition Assistance: CD offers significant financial support, covering nearly 100% of tuition costs and at least $500 each semester for school-related expenses (books, supplies, or transportation)

  • Academic Support: CD students benefit from tutoring, academic coaching, workshops, and other resources designed to enhance academic performance

  • Personalized Counseling: One-on-one guidance ensures students are supported both academically and personally throughout their college journey.

  • Seamless Transition: CD provides a clear path for students to move from an associate's degree to a bachelor's degree, preparing them for future success by joining the SEEK, EOP, or HEOP programs at other colleges/universities.

How to Apply:

  • Complete a CUNY application

  • Select CD/SEEK within the CUNY application

  • Submit financial eligibility documents

  • Complete the Summer Connect Bridge program

Visit our website at College Discovery – Bronx Community College

CUNY EDGE PROGRAM

Director: Denise Comara
Loew Hall [LO], Room 113 | 718.289.5100, Ext. 5047

The CUNY EDGE Program: Unlock Your Full Potential

Are you ready to take charge of your future and maximize your potential? Look no further than the CUNY EDGE Program – an innovative initiative designed to empower individuals with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities to succeed in today’s competitive world.

What is CUNY EDGE?
CUNY EDGE (Educate, Develop, Graduate, and Empower) is a groundbreaking program created through a partnership between HRA (Human Resources Administration) and The City University of New York (CUNY) to support students receiving public assistance that goes beyond traditional education. It aims to provide comprehensive support and resources to help students excel academically, professionally and personally.

Why Choose CUNY EDGE?

  1. Customized Support: At CUNY EDGE, we believe in tailoring our services to meet students specific needs. Whether you’re a current student seeking guidance or a recent graduate looking for career advice, our team of dedicated professionals will provide personalized support to help you reach your goals.

  2. Professional Development: Gain a competitive edge in the job market through our comprehensive professional development opportunities. We offer workshops, seminars, and networking events that cover a wide range of topics, including resume building, interview skills, networking strategies, and more.

  3. Internship and Employment Opportunities: We understand the importance of gaining practical experience. That’s why we connect our participants with a vast network of employers, offering internships and job placements to jumpstart your career. We work closely with industry leaders and organizations to ensure you have access to exciting opportunities.

  4. Financial Assistance: We believe that financial constraints should never hinder your education. CUNY EDGE offers various financial aid options, scholarships, and grants to eligible students. Our goal is to make education accessible to all, regardless of your financial circumstances.

  5. Holistic Approach: CUNY EDGE recognizes that success extends beyond the classroom. We provide holistic support, including counseling services, mentoring programs, and workshops on personal development. Our aim is to empower you to thrive in all aspects of life.

  6. Alumni Network: Join a community of successful CUNY EDGE alumni who have gone on to achieve great things. Our alumni network provides ongoing support, mentorship, and networking opportunities to help you advance your career even after you complete the program.

Don’t miss out on the incredible opportunities offered by the CUNY EDGE Program. Start your journey towards success today!

Visit our website at www.cunyedgeprogram.edu to learn more and apply. Invest in your future with CUNY EDGE – where education meets empowerment!

FIRST YEAR PROGRAM

Program Manager: Shabazz Wilson
Nichols Hall [NI], Room 118 | 718.289.5120

  1. The First Year Program (FYP) provides innovative learning opportunities and coordinated support for first year students at BCC. FYP consists of the First Year Seminar (FYS 11), Peer Mentoring, FYP First Year Advising, The First Year Connection Club (FYC) and Faculty Development Programs.

At the center of the First Year Program is FYS 11, a one-credit, two-hour course that integrates three dimensions: development of academic skills with a focus on critical thinking, orientation to college life, and student development. The purpose of the course is not only to provide an academic experience, in which college success topics are interwoven but to support students’ success in other courses. This is achieved through both the classroom experience as well as through out‐of‐classroom support systems embedded into the First Year Program.

In the FYP, academic advisors work closely with FYS faculty and staff, embedded peer mentors, as well as student resource programs across the campus to monitor students’ academic progress and social integration. The FYP aims to foster student engagement, confidence, and academic success by:

  • creating a sense of community for students, as they transition to BCC,

  • empowering students to independently utilize services and develop a deeper understanding of their responsibilities for individual success,

  • providing opportunities for students to develop and practice the following general education skills: critical thinking, research, and information literacy,

  • promoting the use of effective and innovative teaching, and

  • serving as a model for peer-to-peer mentoring at all levels (faculty, student, and staff).

To this end, the First Year Program has designed and implemented a Pillars for Student Success model to provide students and advisors an essential toolkit for navigating college and preparing for the future. These pillars are four key areas that students need to concentrate on to excel in their studies and build a robust foundation for their career and life after graduation. They are:

  1. Academic Success: Commit to the Experience. Discovering your academic resources, developing strategies and creating habits that lead to graduation and help you achieve your academic goals.

  2. Financial Literacy: Because Money Matters! Learning and developing the set of skills needed and the resources available to help you make informed, effective financial decisions.

  3. Career & Transfer Readiness: It All Begins from Day One! Understanding the importance of being proactive in your career and transfer planning starting from your very first semester.

  4. Mindset for Success: Your Way of Thinking Matters. Identifying your purpose, developing a growth mindset and opening yourself up to new experiences

Together, these pillars provide a 360-degree support system, ensuring that students are equipped, both mentally and practically, to navigate the multifaceted journey of college and beyond.

FUTURE NOW

Director: Elizabeth Payamps
Gould Hall [GH], Room 417 | 718.289.5320
Website: https://www.bcc.cuny.edu/Future-Now

The mission of Future Now is to help empower out-of-school and formerly incarcerated youth by assisting them with earning their high school credentials, transitioning into post-secondary education and graduating in a timely manner with a college degree. The program’s purpose is to ensure that all students become self-sufficient leaders and powerful role models for the next cohort of students, their families and their communities.

Future Now offers the following services:

  • Free HSE (GED) Preparation Classes 

  • Academic Tutoring Classes 

  • College Preparation Classes 

  • College Enrollment, Advising, and Retention Services 

  • Connection to internship and job resources

  • Peer Mentoring Support Services

CUNY START

Director: Pamela Eatman-Skinner, Ed.D.
Program Coordinator: Norma Valenzuela
Brown Annex [BA], Room 101 | 718.289.5100, Ext. 3141

CUNY Start is a welcoming, affordable, semester-long program at Bronx Community College designed to help students strengthen their Math and English skills before entering credit-bearing courses. The program serves students with a high school diploma or GED who would benefit from additional preparation based on their proficiency index.

Over 18 weeks, students build skills in English, Math, and College Success Strategies—often enabling faster entry into credit courses while preserving financial aid. Student progress is measured through course engagement and multiple assessments, with outcomes reflecting strong completion rates and gains in proficiency.

Students pay $75 for the semester, which includes materials, tutoring, and personalized academic advising. Each student is paired with a dedicated advisor and has multiple opportunities to demonstrate progress and advance.

Math Start
Math Start is a 10–12-week program that builds a strong foundation in math through engaging instruction and personalized support. Students who complete the program successfully may advance directly into credit-bearing math courses.

Students strengthen their skills and build the foundation needed for higher-level math competency. The program costs $35 and includes advising and a weekly College Success Seminar. A key component of the program is embedded tutoring, which provides structured academic support within the classroom, giving students access to real-time assistance during class as well as additional support before and after class.

English Start
English Start is a 10–12-week program focused on strengthening reading and writing skills through engagement with college-level texts. Students develop critical thinking, analytical reading, and effective writing skills.

Students who successfully complete the program fulfill requirements to enter college-level English courses, as well as courses across disciplines that require strong reading and writing skills. A core feature of the program, embedded tutoring, delivers structured academic support during class, with real-time assistance and extended access to help outside of class time.

 Jump Start
Jump Start helps associate degree–seeking students begin college with momentum while strengthening Math or English skills. Students may enroll in a gateway course and First-Year Seminar while building foundational skills in CUNY Start.

Program outcomes include successful completion of developmental milestones, early accumulation of credits, and measurable gains in academic readiness, including proficiency index benchmarks. Students receive advising, tutoring, and access to campus resources, along with financial supports such as tuition gap scholarships.

CUNY LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAM (CLIP)

Director: Jason Davis
Loew Hall [LO], Room 336 | 718.289.5207
www.bcc.cuny.edu/academics/student-success-programs/cuny-language-immersion-program-clip/

The CUNY Language Immersion Program (CLIP) provides English language learners who plan to matriculate in a CUNY college with intensive instruction in academic English. Classes meet five hours a day, five days a week, in day or evening sessions. Students who have been accepted to any CUNY college can spend up to one year in the program.

CLIP is a content-based program where students learn English through studying topics in American history, literature, environmental studies and more. This method enables students to build knowledge and academic skills as they develop their English language skills.

CLIP is a low-cost program. Most students pay a fee of $180 for a 15-week semester with 25 hours of instruction per week. Students do not use their financial aid while in CLIP. Instead, they save their financial aid for subsequent college coursework.

CLIP students enter college prepared to write compositions, analyze texts, make presentations and use computers for academic purposes.

COLLEGE NOW

Director: Susana Rivera
Assistant Director: Aurora Douglas
Butler Hall [BU], Room 307 | 718.289.5950
Website: http://www.bcc.cuny.edu/academics/studentsuccess-programs/college-now/

The College Now program is an initiative designed to prepare students for post-secondary education success while they are still enrolled in high school. It does so through an array of courses in the humanities, social sciences, the arts and STEM, all with an eye towards helping them develop the academic and technical skills necessary to survive and thrive at the college level. Through its informational, programming and support networks, College Now helps students understand what a two- or four-year college or university will expect from them as readers, writers and learners and what they can expect from any institution of higher learning. In the process, the Program helps students understand and stave off many of the remedial needs that preclude postsecondary success.

ADULT EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAM

Gould Hall [GH], Room 410 | 718.289.5834

Fall 2025:

The Adult Education and Training Program provides free services to adults who are:

  • seeking to improve their English language skills — English as a Second Language (ESOL),

  • get a High School Diploma (HSE) 

  • those who are displaced because of loss of income (DHP).

In addition to obtaining academic instruction and counseling, students receive college/training information and follow-up.

 ESL classes are hybrid and meet two times per week from 9:30am to 12:30pm or 6:00pm-9:00pm

ABE, PREHSE and HSE classes meet from 6:00pm to 9:00pm Monday through Thursday.

 The DHP Program (Displaced Homemaker Program) provides job readiness skills such as:
Are you looking for a job or training for a career? Has not worked in the labor force for many years but, during that time, has worked in the home, providing unpaid services for family members. Has depended on government assistance (SNAP, TANF) or the income of another family member but no longer receives that support. Receives public assistance because of dependent children, especially if that aid is about to end. Unemployed, in a low-wage job, or having difficulty finding work. Has lost primary source of income through divorce, death of partner/spouse, legal separation or mutual agreement to separate, abandonment by partner/spouse. The Displaced Homemaker Program helps people get higher jobs or pursue a career through these services: 

  • Job search and retention 

  • Comprehensive evaluation and target resume to specific industries 

  • Gives displaced homemakers a dedicated job developer and career counselor 

  • Job search strategies (Indeed, Linkedin, Social Media) 

  • Help to identify and sharpen skills 

  • How to retain a job and learn on-the-job strategies 

  • Track job performance and assist with any job-related challenges Education and Training 

  • We refer individuals to training opportunities and offer access to family resources.

Contact us at: 718.289.5838. text to 347-767-6184 or email Michael.grosberg@bcc.cuny.edu Follow us on Instagram: @BXCC-DHP

 Free Home Health Aid Training (HHA) and ESL A collaboration with the Bronx Educational Opportunity Center (EOC)
The HHA program is generally one month, 5 days a week from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. (Subject to change) Requirements:
TABE Scores required are: Reading 6.0 - Math 5.0.

  • No High School Diploma or equivalent required.

  • Only for ESL students (advanced level)

  • Eligible to work in the US

 Free IC3 Program consists of three-parts:

  • Part A: Computing Fundamentals

  • Part B: Key Applications

  • Part C: Living Online

Requirements:

  • Only for ESL students (intermediate level)

  • No High School Diploma or equivalent required.

  • Eligible to work in the US.

Please call 718.289.5834/5835 for an appointment.