NWCCU is seeking nominations for the Beacon Award for Excellence in Student Achievement and Success.The Beacon Award is an annual award recognizing institutional or programmatic accomplishments in student achievement and success at NWCCU member institutions.Nominations must be received by the NWCCU no later than August 15, 2025. A review panel of NWCCU commissioners, staff, and representatives from institutions not under consideration will select award winners.
Award winners must demonstrate distinctive, measurable, and replicable innovations that have resulted in student achievement and success at the institutional or programmatic level, including innovations in advising and mentoring, alternative credentialing, experiential learning, learning communities, or other such efforts. Other winning examples may include new curricula, courses, or educational delivery models. The Beacon Award will recognize innovative approaches that have significantly contributed to measurable improvements in completion and/or graduation rates at the institution.
Award winners will receive a trophy and cash award to be used to further the institution’s efforts to implement the initiative.
Winning institutions will be recognized during the NWCCU Annual Conference, where an institutional representative will have the opportunity to speak on the topic of their award-winning endeavors that are contributing to the success of their students. The winners will also be expected to submit a short article on their initiative for publication in NWCCU’s Beacon newsletter.
For more information on the Beacon Award and to learn more about previous winners’ initiatives, please visit NWCCU’s Beacon Award webpage.
