GHC is semifinalist for $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

Georgia Highlands College has been named an Aspen Prize semifinalist by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.

It’s one of 25 colleges across the country competing for a $1 million prize recognizing excellence in equitable outcomes for students in and after college — and the only institution in the University System of Georgia to be named.

The award is considered one of the signature recognitions of high achievement and performance among the nation’s more than 1,000 community colleges. The colleges selected stand out as having high and improving levels of student success as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds.

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 — as First Lady Jill Biden stated at the 2021 Aspen Prize ceremony — “a powerful engine of prosperity.”

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.

The next steps in the process include: ♦ Selection of the top 10 finalists by a panel of 15 experts in community colleges, higher education, and workforce training, to be announced in spring/summer.

♦ Fall site visits to each of the 10 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.