CUNY’s Kingsborough Community College was named one of the 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence on Tuesday by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.
This is the seventh consecutive time KCC has been named an Aspen Prize Top 150 U.S. Community College since the prize’s inception in 2010. The prize winner will be announced in spring 2023.
The Aspen Prize spotlights exemplary community colleges in order to elevate the sector, drive attention to colleges doing the best work, and discover and share highly effective student success and equity strategies. Since 2010, Aspen has chosen to focus intensively on community colleges because they are — as First Lady Dr. Jill Biden stated at the 2021 Aspen Prize ceremony — “a powerful engine of prosperity.”
Student outcomes vary enormously among community colleges, and improving those outcomes is essential to securing our nation’s economic future, strengthening communities, and ensuring that diverse populations experience economic mobility and prosperity.
With these goals in mind, the Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding achievement in five critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, and equity for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
Kingsborough Community College President Claudia Schrader. Eagle file photo
“Dreams not only begin here,” said KCC President Claudia V. Schrader, referring to the college’s tagline. “Our faculty and staff have a long-standing commitment to student success, and do all they can to help our students realize their dreams. Being nominated for the Aspen Prize is the highest acknowledgment of our dedication.”
Chosen from more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide, the eligible colleges represent the diversity and depth of the community college sector. Located in urban, rural, and suburban areas across 34 states, these colleges serve as few as 230 students and as many as 57,000.
Based on publicly available data, eligible colleges must show strong and improving student outcomes in key areas such as retention, completion, transfer and more. Nationwide, only 15 percent of community colleges (150 of the approximately 1,000 public two-year colleges nationwide assessed for the Prize) have been invited to apply, according to Aspen.
Founded in 1963, Kingsborough Community College is Brooklyn’s only community college and is part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Located on a 70-acre campus in Manhattan Beach, Kingsborough remains committed to its mission of providing both liberal arts and career education, promoting student learning and development, as well as strengthening and serving its diverse community.
The Kingsborough campus serves approximately 10,000 full- and part-time students annually and an additional 10,000 students in its expanding continuing education program.
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