Finalists Named For 2013 Aspen Prize

Nation’s top 120 community colleges eligible for Joyce-supported prize

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program named the 120 top community colleges in the US and challenged them to compete for the second annual Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. These colleges will now compete for the 2013 Aspen Prize during a year-long research process into how well their students learn, obtain skills for jobs in their region, complete degrees, and get jobs with competitive wages after graduating.

Twenty-six of the 120 finalists are located in the Great Lakes region. See the full list of the nation’s top community colleges.

The top 120 colleges were selected from the nation’s 1,200 community colleges using a quantitative formula that assesses performance and improvement in graduation rates, degrees awarded, student retention rates and equity in student outcomes. The data used focused on completion, considered from three perspectives:

• Performance (retention, graduation rates including transfers, and degrees and certificates per 100 “full time equivalent” students)
• Improvement (awarded for steady improvement in each performance metric over time)
• Equity (evidence of completion outcomes for minority and low-income students)

In September 2013, ten finalists for the Aspen Prize will be named and the Aspen Institute will conduct site visits to review each of the top ten in person. The winner will be announced in March 2013.

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