Green River College: Recipient of 2023 Aspen Prize
Out of numerous community colleges across the nation, Green River college won a spot amongst the top 150 colleges eligible to be a recipient of the 2023 Aspen Prize.
Starting in 2011, the Aspen Prize is a recognition award from the Aspen Institute to colleges every two years and consists of funding of up to $1 million awarded to the winning college. Apart from the main winner, being the finalist(s), passing the determining factors and showcasing rapid improvement can also grant runner-up colleges with funds. To determine eligibility, this excellence program majorly focuses on aspects like teaching and its effect on learning, degree (certificates, transfer/bachelor’s) completion, workforce success, equitable outcomes for students of diverse backgrounds, alongside the college’s leadership and culture.
The process of selecting colleges in the first round requires analysis of quantitative data at every round of selection, beginning with a narrowed down list of 150 colleges from over 1000 institutions nationwide. In the next round, usually one year after the initial selection, the top 10 finalists are selected. From there, the winner and finalists are presented with respective prizes, commonly during the Spring quarter of the second year, Spring 2023 for the next set of winners.
Funding made available by foundations like the Joyce Foundation, Siemens Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation, has allowed the Aspen prize to be awarded to 6 colleges since its establishment, along with numerous other prizes awarded to various colleges for similar efforts.
Green River Community College is known for its international programs, a good range of 2-year and now 4-year programs, alongside various student-focused programs: counseling services, funding programs, and tutoring centers, to name a few. Such an accomplishment will enable Green River to continue to better faculty and staff, the range of courses available to students alongside resources that will help create a better outcome for an even larger population of students attending Green River.
