Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

10 Colleges Named Finalists for the
2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

The $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, awarded every two years, is the nation’s signature recognition for America’s community colleges—as President Obama called it, “basically the Oscars for great community colleges.” The Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding achievement in six critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, access, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.

By focusing on student success and lifting up models that work, the Aspen Prize aims to celebrate excellence, advance a focus on equitable student success, and stimulate replication of effective culture and practice. 
The finalist institutions for the 2025 Aspen Prize have been announced! These colleges represent the amazing potential of America’s thousand-plus community colleges as engines of prosperity and social mobility. 
The 2025 Aspen Prize cycle began in October 2023 when the Aspen Institute invited 150 community colleges to apply, based on data showing strong and improving student outcomes in key areas such as retention, completion, transfer, and equity. Read more about the data model and see the list of 150 eligible colleges below.

Past Winners and Finalists

Selection Process

Resources

The 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
The 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
Aspen Prize Colleges: Well-Equipped When Crisis Hits
The Colleges We Need Now: The 2021 Aspen Prize Finalists
The 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
2019 Aspen Prize: Place and Purpose Matter
Chronicle of Higher Ed: Aspen Prize Is Awarded to 2 Florida Colleges
The 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
The 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
The 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
The 2011 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
The Aspen Prize is made possible by generous support from Ascendium, JPMorgan Chase, the Joyce Foundation and the Kresge Foundation.
Contact us for more information.
Rebecca Lavinson, Program Manager