Anoka-Ramsey named among top community colleges in country; in running for $1M

February 01, 2016

Anoka-Ramsey Community College is among six community colleges from Minnesota named in the Top 150 in the country by The Aspen Institute, putting the college in the running for a $1 million prize.

The Aspen Institute, an international education nonprofit, announced its shortlist for its 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence for colleges who deliver “exceptional” results for students from all backgrounds and high levels of graduate employment.

The 150 two-year institutions—from 35 states—were said by the institute to have demonstrated strong outcomes in three areas of student success:

• student success in persistence, completion, and transfer;
•  consistent improvement in outcomes over time; and
•  equity in outcomes for students of all racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“We could not be more proud to be recognized for the hard work and dedication to student success that goes on at our campuses every day,” said Anoka-Ramsey Community College President, Kent Hanson, Ph.D. “Recognitions such as this serve to highlight the important role community colleges serve keeping education available to all who seek it, and keeping the U.S. economically prosperous.”

The other Minnesota colleges on the short list include: Alexandria Technical & Community College; Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Fergus Falls; Minnesota West Community and Technical College, Granite Falls; Northland Community and Technical College, Thief River Falls; and Ridgewater College, Willmar.

Each shortlisted college will now be judged in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, employment and earnings, and access and success for minority and low-income students.

Anoka-Ramsey, along with the other nominated colleges, will submit an application describing what they’ve done to improve student success. The Aspen Institute judges will study the applications and results data on each institution to narrow the 150 colleges down to 10.

“There are exceptional community colleges across our country providing students with a high-quality, affordable education that leads to good careers and strong economic opportunity,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “Through this competition, we’re working to inspire community colleges and help them understand how to ensure that more students succeed.”

The Aspen Institute prize, offered every other year since 2011, was awarded to colleges in 2011 and 2015 to colleges in Florida, and in 2013 was split between colleges from California and Washington. A full list of the selected colleges and details on the selection process are available at www.aspenprize.org.

For more information about the programs and services at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit AnokaRamsey.edu.