Florida’s Valencia College—where over half of full-time students graduate or transfer within three years of entering the college—has received the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which comes with a $600,000 award.
Community college supporters from government, foundations, businesses, associations and the colleges themselves attended a high-profile event on Monday in Washington, D.C., for the announcement of the prize winner and the "finalists with distinction"—which included Walla Walla Community College (Washington), Miami Dade College (Florida), West Kentucky Community and Technical College, and Lake Area Technical Institute (LATI) in South Dakota. The four finalists will each receive $100,000.
The top 10 colleges selected for the Aspen Prize.
*denotes a “finalist with distinction” (which comes with $100,000)
**denotes the winner of the prize and a $600,000 award
- Lake Area Technical Institute (South Dakota)*
- Miami Dade College (Florida)*
- Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
- Mott Community College (Michigan)
- Northeast Iowa Community College-Calmar
- Santa Barbara City College (California)
- Southwest Texas Junior College
- Valencia College (Florida)**
- Walla Walla Community College (Washington)*
- West Kentucky Community and Technical College*
Read the full article in Community College Times
Aspen Prize Website at the Aspen Institute