Student Success ROI Requires More Than Program Design
by Aankit Patel,
University Dean for Technology and Computer & Information Sciences, CUNY Central
As University Dean for Tech and Computing at CUNY, I spend much of my time thinking about return on investment in higher education, not just in financial terms, but in outcomes that matter to students, institutions, and the city’s workforce. Over the last several years, one lesson has become increasingly clear. Even the most thoughtfully designed workforce and curriculum interventions cannot deliver their full return unless students have the basic resources needed to participate.
This is the context in which I began connecting our system-level work, including the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline–funded CUNY 2x Tech initiative, with Last Mile Education Fund and its focus on direct student support. These efforts are not parallel. They are interdependent.
What 2x Tech Revealed About Barriers to Success
CUNY 2x Tech was launched to strengthen computing education across the university by expanding access to applied, industry-aligned learning experiences. The initiative supported new and redesigned courses, increased employer engagement, and significantly expanded paid internships and work-based learning opportunities for students pursuing computing degrees.
Research by the Center for an Urban Future showed 2x Tech had strong outcomes. Participating students were more likely to secure internships and employment in tech-adjacent roles, and faculty reported meaningful changes to curriculum design and pedagogy. At the same time, the report surfaced a critical constraint. Despite its success, 2x Tech reached only a fraction of the more than 24,000 CUNY students enrolled in computing programs, underscoring the need to move from promising pilots to systemic academic program innovation.
More striking was another finding from internal research funded through 2x Tech. Roughly 40 percent of CUNY computing students lacked reliable access to a functional laptop or device. This was not a marginal issue. It directly affected students’ ability to complete coursework, participate in internships, and benefit from the very interventions designed to improve outcomes.
Why Direct Student Support Is a Critical Leg of the Stool
This is where Last Mile Education Fund enters the picture. Last Mile’s work focuses on removing small but decisive financial barriers that derail students who are otherwise academically on track. These barriers include costs like devices, certification fees, childcare, or transportation. Their research and practice show that relatively modest investments can unlock graduation, employment, and long-term economic mobility.
From an ROI perspective, this matters enormously. Workforce-aligned curriculum reform like 2x Tech generates value by improving instructional quality, relevance, and scale. But that value is only realized if students can actually engage. A redesigned course does not deliver returns if a student cannot log in. An internship pathway does not produce outcomes if a student cannot afford the tools required to participate.
Direct student support is not ancillary to systemic change, but a co-requisite. This is why I’m so excited to partner with Last Mile Education to start an NYC Talent Innovation Fund specifically for CUNY computing students. As this work takes shape, we are actively seeking thought and funding partners to help build what would be a first-of-its-kind partnership between a major public university system and Last Mile—one that braids institutional transformation with last-mile investment at scale.
Braiding Systems Change With Last-Mile Investment
Based on what we learned through 2x Tech, we are now evolving our approach to focus more explicitly on department- and program-level transformation so that every student in a computing major benefits from an improved curriculum, not just those selected for special programs.
That evolution makes partnerships with organizations like Last Mile even more important. As we scale academic innovation, we must also ensure that students are not excluded by hidden costs. Device access, in particular, is foundational in computing education. Without it, investments in faculty development, employer partnerships, and curriculum reform fail to reach their intended audience.
“Last Mile gave me the chance to finish strong. With a remaining tuition gap I couldn’t cover on my own, I am thankful that their support covered my final semester, allowing me to graduate debt-free as a math major and fully focus on my research projects in optimization and statistical modeling. Because of that investment, I’m able to enter the workforce prepared for a quantitative career and motivated to pay forward the same support to others.”
When direct student support enables students to persist and complete degrees, the returns accrue across multiple dimensions. Students gain credentials and earnings power. Institutions see improved completion and program effectiveness. Employers gain access to a more diverse and prepared talent pool.
A Call for Attention
By marrying the Last Mile and 2x Tech interventions, I believe we can move from promising interventions to durable impact on CUNY computing programs. As philanthropy, corporations, and government continue to invest in systemic change in higher education, my hope is that close attention is paid to the role of direct student support within these efforts. Funding academic innovation without addressing last-mile barriers limits the return on that investment.
If we are serious about student success at scale, especially for working-class, first-generation, and historically excluded students, we must design funding strategies that recognize how tightly coupled systems and student resources truly are.