SFCC Chosen Among Colleges to Compete for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
South Florida Community College (SFCC) is among 120 out of over 1,200 community colleges across the United States to have been deemed eligible for The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence recognizes community colleges with outstanding academic and workforce outcomes in both performance and improvements over time. The selected colleges have demonstrated that their students gained knowledge and skills, completed degree or certificate programs, and obtained jobs with competitive wages.
To identify the colleges eligible for the prize, The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program engaged a panel of experts to select what they describe as the nation’s 120 best community colleges—the top 10 percent in the country. “They used nationally available data about community colleges and our students,” said Dr. Norm Stephens, president, SFCC. “It was a very objective, data-driven selection process.”
“As a result of the work and dedication of SFCC’s employees, our college is honored by being among these 120 fine institutions across the country,” Dr. Stephens said. “Now we have national recognition of the excellent education we offer to our students.”
“Florida is very well represented among the colleges eligible for The Aspen Prize,” Dr. Stephens said. “Fourteen of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System are in this prestigious group, more than any other state.” In all, colleges in 33 states were represented.
As an eligible institution, SFCC is invited to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize. Eight to 10 finalists will be named in September 2011, with the final prize winner and up to three runners-up announced in December. The winner will receive approximately $700,000, with the runners-up sharing the remaining money.
