Aspen Institute names WSCC semifinalist for prize
May 7—The Aspen Institute has named Wallace State Community College as a semifinalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The $1 million award is a recognition of high achievement and performance among community colleges.
"We are honored to be recognized as a semifinalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and to be considered as one of best 20 community colleges in the United States by such a prestigious organization," said Wallace State President Vicki Karolewics.
Awarded every two years, the Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding performance in six critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor's attainment, workforce success, broad access to the college and its offerings and equitable outcomes for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. The winner will be announced in the spring of 2025.
Joshua Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, congratulated the semifinalists. "Each of these colleges has demonstrated a sustained commitment to moving beyond enrollment and retention as the markers of student success to defining their success by whether the education they provide changes lives," Wyner said. "These colleges understand that enrollment and graduation matter most when tied tightly to post-graduation success in transferring for a bachelor's degree and in securing fulfilling, good-paying jobs and careers."
