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The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has named Frontier Community College (FCC) as one of 150 community colleges eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. This is the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement, and just 15 percent of community colleges nationwide have been invited to apply for the Aspen Prize. The Aspen Prize was established in 2010 and has since awarded six institutions. FCC was previously recognized as a Top 150 U.S. Community College in 2017.
The 150 community colleges named as eligible to compete for the 2021 Aspen Prize were selected from a pool of nearly 1,000 public two-year colleges nationwide using publicly available data on student outcomes. The makeup of colleges represent the diversity and depth of the community college sector, as they are located across 39 states in urban, rural, and suburban areas, serving as few as 500 students and as many as 75,000 students.
“We are so honored to once again be selected to receive this recognition from the Aspen Institute,” said Dr. Jay Edgren, President of FCC. “At Frontier, we pride ourselves in providing our students with engaging classrooms, coupled with superior customer service. It makes me extremely happy to see Frontier acknowledged as a national leader in community college education.”
With a singular focus on student success, the Aspen Institute highlights institutions with outstanding achievements in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, employment and earnings, and high-levels of access and success for minority and low-income students. The $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence is awarded every two years, with the next prize to be awarded in the spring of 2021. The top ten finalists for the prize will be named in May 2020. Throughout the process, Aspen looks extensively at data, engages community college leaders, and solicits guidance from experts in higher education.
The Aspen Institute is a community-serving organization with global reach whose vision is a free, just, and equitable society. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Institute has offices in Aspen, Colorado; New York, New York; and additional international locations. For a full list of the top 150 eligible institutions and to read more on the selection process, click here.
