Shawnee College eligible to compete for $1 million prize
The Aspen Institute on Oct. 28 named Shawnee Community College as one of the 200 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s premier recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year colleges.
The 200 colleges were selected based on their student outcomes data, including retention, completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment rates. Started in 2010, this is the ninth cycle of the Aspen Prize.
“This recognition affirms the incredible work happening every day at Shawnee Community College. Our students, faculty and staff have embraced a shared vision for excellence, and it shows. From the Higher Learning Commission citing Shawnee as a national model for rural colleges, to our USA Today Top 250 ranking, to the ICCB’s Award for Excellence in Innovation, this has truly been a banner year for the college,” said Dr. Tim Taylor, Shawnee Community College president, in a news release.
“Being named among the nation’s top community colleges by the Aspen Institute reinforces what we’ve believed all along: that even a small, rural college can achieve extraordinary results when vision, values, and data come together in service to student success. Great things can, and do, happen in places often overlooked on the map.”
Together, these 200 colleges represent the breadth and diversity of the community college sector. They are located in urban, rural and suburban areas across the country and serve anywhere from a few hundred students to tens of thousands. Some of these colleges focus primarily on workforce programs, while others focus on transfer and bachelor’s attainment or a combination of the two.
“The Aspen Prize rewards colleges that achieve the kind of outcomes that actually matter to students: completing college degree programs that, in turn, lead to lifelong success,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “Aspen Prize winners offer a powerful message: Community colleges can deliver the kind of life-changing education that makes the American Dream real.”
Community colleges educate nearly 6 million students. Yet, community college student outcomes fall short in both the rate at which students graduate and the percentage of students who achieve success after graduation. The Aspen Prize process identifies and celebrates community colleges that demonstrate that achieving stronger outcomes is possible, providing a roadmap of effective practices and strategies for other colleges to follow.
The 200 eligible colleges have been invited to submit an application and participate in a rigorous review process that will culminate in the naming of the Aspen Prize winner in the spring of 2027. Over the coming 20 months, the colleges that apply for the Aspen Prize will be assessed based on student outcomes data, ranging from student transfer and completion rates to employment and wages after graduation; and whether they have engaged in scaled practices that led to high and improving student outcomes.
“Among these 200 colleges are some really special places that deliver strong and improving outcomes for students across the board,” Wyner said. “Our job over the coming 20 months is to gather a lot more data and work with a deep bench of field experts to assess which of these 200 stand out so we can not only honor them with a monetary award, but drive attention to the most effective field practices that other colleges can replicate.”
This is the first time since the inception of the Aspen Prize that 200 colleges are eligible to apply, growing from 150. This year, in addition to publicly available federal data, over 600 colleges authorized the use of National Student Clearinghouse data on their institution’s degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment rates for full- and part-time students.
The next steps in the process include:
Nov. 13/Dec. 9, 2025: Application deadlines for the 2027 Prize.
April 2026: Announcement of 25 semifinalists, selected based on assessments of extensive data and the application by a group of 11 experts in community colleges, higher education and workforce.
June 2026: Announcement of 10 finalists, selected by the same group of experts.
Fall 2026: Collection of additional data from the 10 finalists, including employment and earnings data for graduates from 2020 and 2025, as well as qualitative assessments of practices by field experts during multi-day site visits to each of the 10 finalists.
February 2027: The Aspen Prize winner selected by an independent jury.
Spring 2027: Announcement of the Aspen Prize winner and celebration of the 10 finalists at an event in Washington, D.C.
The Aspen Prize is funded by Ascendium Education Philanthropy and the Joyce Foundation.
Previous winners include:
2025: Southwest Wisconsin Technical College. 2023: Amarillo College in Texas and Imperial Valley College in California. 2021: San Antonio College in Texas. 2019: Indian River State College and Miami Dade College, both in Florida. 2017: Lake Area Technical Institute in South Dakota. 2015: Santa Fe College in Florida. 2013: Santa Barbara City College in California and Walla Walla Community College in Washington. 2011: Valencia College in Florida.
Colleges that have won the Aspen Prize are not eligible to apply in subsequent years.
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program aims to strengthen higher education leadership and practice to improve student outcomes, with the ultimate goal of advancing economic mobility and developing talent for the good of each individual and society as a whole.
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the institute drives change through dialogue, leadership and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has a campus in Aspen, Colo., as well as an international network of partners.