November 14, 2023
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – The Aspen Institute named Lakeshore Technical College (LTC), Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC), Moraine Park Technical College and Fox Valley Technical College among the 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
According to the Aspen Institute, the colleges selected stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide 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.
“This acknowledgment is considered the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year colleges,” Paul Carlsen, LTC president, said. “We are honored to be recognized for the seventh consecutive time for the extraordinary effort our faculty and staff continue investing in student success every day.”
Kristin Raney, president of NWTC, said the college is “immensely proud and honored to be named among the 150 institutions eligible.”
“This recognition highlights the unwavering commitment of our staff, faculty and community in supporting student success and making college accessible to Northeast Wisconsin,” she said. “We are committed to continuing this important work, which creates a pipeline to fulfilling careers for everyone in our community.”
The 150 eligible colleges have been invited to submit student success data and narratives about strategies to achieve better and more equitable student outcomes as the next step in an intensive review process that culminates in the naming of the Aspen Prize winner in spring 2025.
“The Aspen Prize is rooted first and foremost in an assessment of whether colleges are walking the walk,” Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, said. “As community colleges face enrollment variations, enroll students with pandemic-related learning loss and graduate students into a rapidly changing labor market, it is easy to lose track of what matters most.”
In April 2024, 25 semi-finalists will be announced.
In June 2024, the final 10 colleges will be elected, with the Aspen Prize winner announced in spring 2025 in Washington D.C.