SUNY Westchester Community College Expands Program Proven to Increase Student Retention and Boost Graduation Rates
Viking ROADS program empowers students with financial, academic, and personal support to remove barriers to student success and dramatically increase timely degree completion.
Valhalla, NY, October 22, 2025 – SUNY WCC will host a special event to highlight the expansion of its Viking ROADS (Resources for Obtaining Associate Degrees and Success) program. Viking ROADS has been proven to increase graduation rates by 12 percentage points – one of the most significant improvements ever recorded at a community college.
The event will highlight the comprehensive support to students provided through Viking ROADS, which is modeled after the City University of New York’s Advancing Success in Associate Pathways (ASAP)— a program that nearly doubled graduation rates at CUNY community colleges and demonstrated similarly strong results when replicated in Ohio. The program includes financial assistance, personalized academic advising, career development, and community-building activities designed to help students overcome obstacles to timely graduation.
Following the success of Viking ROADS at SUNY WCC, SUNY ASAP|ACE launched in spring 2024 with 4,200 students at 25 campuses thanks to support from Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature through the historic $75 million SUNY Transformation Fund, demonstrating their commitment to improving student success across the state. The program is part of SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. and the SUNY Board of Trustees’s vision of advancing student success and upward mobility within the SUNY system. [OC1] [LD2] In May 2025, Gov. Hochul and the state Legislature established $12 million in recurring funding to help support SUNY’s expansion to 7,050 students in Fall 2025 on the path to 10,000 students by Fall 2026.
The event will include remarks from Dr. Belinda Miles, President of SUNY WCC, as well as students sharing their stories on how they have benefited from the program. Attendees will learn about the impact of Viking ROADS on participating students and the benefits of this initiative for the campus and community.
WHAT: Viking ROADS Program Announcement
WHO: Dr. Belinda Miles, President of SUNY WCC
WHEN: Monday, October 27 from 2:00-3:00pm
WHERE: SUNY Westchester Community College
Hartford Hall, Boardroom
75 Grasslands Rd
Valhalla, NY
MEDIA CONTACT:
Mark Stollar
Director, Strategic Marketing and Communications
914-606-6638
RSVP:
Please RSVP by Friday, October 24 to Mark Stollar at [email protected].
[OC1]This applies to the 25 campuses who launched back in spring 2024. We need to sue the new language for the nine new campuses ($12M in funding to enable 7K students in Fall 2025, on the path to 10K by Fall 2026.
[LD2]agreed; amending and pulling in text from best practices document for accuracy.
About Faculty Student Association of Westchester Community College
Smart Arts at Westchester Community College brings unique and intimate artistic performances by exciting, world-class performers in a stimulating college environment. It is first-rate, affordable, conveniently located with ample free parking and ticket discounts for children, students, and seniors. Multi-faceted cultural programming is provided for a broad and diverse experience, based on different performing arts genres…dance, opera, musical theatre, comedy, music, drama. World cultures are highlighted to bring social diversity within the performing arts area. All performances are subsidized by student fees, grants and ticket revenue so that ticket pricing is affordable and in many cases, offered to underserved community groups for free or at great discounted reductions. Outreach activities are also part of WCC’s programming services. Office hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Friday Box office hours: One half hour prior to show and beyond