The Aspen Institute named six NWCCU institutions as the top 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. NWCCU congratulates Bellevue College, Big Bend Community College, Green River College, Pierce College, Snow College, and South Puget Sound Community College on this achievement.
Awarded every two years, the Aspen Prize is the nation’s signature recognition for America’s community colleges – as President Obama called it, “the Oscars for great community colleges.”
The Aspen Prize honors institutions with outstanding student outcomes in six areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer to four-year institutions, workforce, equitable outcomes for students of color and low-income students, and equitable college access. It also assesses a seventh area: leadership and culture, which Aspen’s research has shown distinguishes community colleges that achieve high, improving, and equitable levels of student success.
The next step in the process includes the announcement of 25 semifinalists in April 2024. The Aspen Prize winner will be announced in spring 2025 in Washington, DC.
