San Antonio College Wins 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence
May 20, 2021 - San Antonio
Aspen Prize Announcement. San Antonio College has been declared the winner of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The community college will receive $600,000. Photo: Courtesy Image.
By Valeria Torrealba, Senior Reporter | San Antonio Sentinel
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
- SAC has been declared the winner of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The community college will receive $600,000.
- The Aspen Prize recognizes outstanding institutions selected from a pool of more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide.
The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program announced Tuesday that San Antonio College is the winner of the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among America’s community colleges.
The Aspen Prize is funded by the ECMC Foundation, Joyce Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Siemens Foundation. It is the first time in its 10-year history that the award has been given to a Texas community college. In October 2017, SAC first gained recognition from the Aspen Institute when it was selected as one of 150 community colleges eligible for the 2019 Aspen Prize.
In June 2020, the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program announced San Antonio College as one of the top 10 finalists for the 2021 Prize. All the colleges, according to the Aspen Institute, “were recognized for effectively identifying, developing, and scaling strategies to propel all students to not just complete college but also succeed after graduation.”
“This is the highest national honor that a community college can receive. Today’s news makes me proud, happy and just about every good feeling you can imagine,” said SAC President Dr. Robert Vela. “It’s a breathtaking achievement for our faculty, staff and students and it embodies the very best of everyone who worked so hard to make it happen.”
Vela said the Aspen Prize is “the culmination of six years of effort to improve outcomes for students,” as reported by Texas Public Radio. Winners of the Aspen Prize are chosen based on student “outcomes, equity and leadership.”
As winner of the Aspen Prize, San Antonio College will receive $600,000. Aspen also recognized three other community colleges as Finalists with Distinction: Broward College (Florida), San Jacinto College (Texas), and West Kentucky Community and Technical College (Kentucky). Amarillo College (Texas) received the Rising Star award for rapid improvement. Each will receive $100,000.
The Aspen Prize, awarded every two years since 2011, recognizes outstanding institutions selected from a pool of more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide. With a singular focus on student success, the Aspen Prize honors institutions with outstanding achievement in six areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, equitable outcomes for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds, as well as leadership and culture.
"This recognition for San Antonio College reflects their faculty and staff’s dedication, hard work and commitment to student success and performance excellence," Dr. Mike Flores, chancellor of the Alamo Colleges District, said. "They are the first of our colleges to win this prestigious national honor and one of three named to the Aspen Top 150 community colleges this year, along with Northwest Vista College and Palo Alto College. In 2019, four of our five colleges were named to the Aspen Top 100, the same year Palo Alto College was named in the top one percent of community colleges and a Rising Star by the Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program.”
Valeria Torrealba is an opinions columnist and public relations assistant at the University Star, a student publication of Texas State University. Email her at reporter@sasentinel.com