WASHINGTON, D.C. - South Georgia Technical College in Americus, GA was selected by the Aspen Institute as one of only 150 institutions from across the nation eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges. There are over 1,000 community colleges nation-wide.
The Aspen Prize spotlights exemplary community colleges in order to elevate the sector, drive attention to colleges doing the best work, and discover and share highly effective student success and equity strategies. Since 2010, Aspen has chosen to focus intensively on community colleges because they are “powerful engines of prosperity.”
“South Georgia Technical College is honored to have been selected to compete for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence,” said South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford. “South Georgia Technical College has been recognized as one of the nation’s best colleges in helping students become prepared for the workforce. I am very proud of our faculty, staff, administration, and students for their exceptional work to place us as one of the top 150 two-year colleges in the U.S. This is a tremendous honor for our college and our community.”
The 150 eligible colleges spotlighted are now invited to submit data and narratives as the next steps in an intensive data and practice review process, culminating in the announcement of the Prize winner in 2023.
Improving student outcomes is essential to securing our nation’s economic future, strengthening communities and ensuring that diverse populations experience economic mobility and prosperity. With these goals in mind, the Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding achievement in five critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
“In an era of persistent inequity and workforce talent gaps, our nation’s best community colleges are stepping up to deliver more degrees to increasingly diverse students so they are prepared for the good jobs waiting to be filled,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “Leaders of exceptional community colleges understand that achieving excellence requires expanding college access and increasing degree completion, but it doesn’t stop there. They are committed to ensuring that all students – including students of color and those from low-income backgrounds – graduate with the skills needed to secure a job with family-sustaining wages or successfully transfer to and graduate from a university. That same commitment that stands at the center of the Aspen Prize: to advance the goals of social mobility and equitable talent development.”
The eligible colleges represent the diversity and depth of the community college sector. Located in urban, rural, and suburban areas across 34 states, the colleges serve as few as 230 students and as many as 57,000. Winning colleges have ranged from smaller institutions serving rural community and smaller towns – including Lake Area Technical Institute (SD, 2017 Prize Winner) and Walla Walla Community College (WA, 2013) – to large community colleges serving major metropolitan areas, including Miami Dade College (FL, 2019) and San Antonio College (TX, 2021).
In this first round, eligibility for the Aspen Prize is based on publicly available data. Eligible colleges must show strong and improving student outcomes in key areas such as retention, completion, transfer, and equity. Nationwide, 15 percent of community colleges (150 of the approximately 1,000 public two-year colleges nationwide assessed for the Prize) have been invited to apply—the full list can be accessed on the Prize homepage.
The next steps in the process include:
- Selection of the top ten finalists by an expert panel of 15 experts in community colleges, higher education, and workforce training, to be announced in spring/summer 2022
- Fall 2022 site visits to each of the ten finalists, during which the Aspen Institute and partners will collect additional information, including employment and earnings data and insights about promising practices
- A distinguished jury will meet and make award decisions in the first quarter of early 2023
- Announcement of the Aspen Prize in late spring 2023
For a full list of the top 150 eligible institutions and to read more on the selection process, visit www.highered.aspeninstitute.org/aspen-prize.