April 27, 2011
NOC listed among nation’s best community colleges
Enid News and Eagle
The Enid News and Eagle
Wed Apr 27, 2011, 09:59 PM CDT
Northern Oklahoma Col-lege is included on a list of the nation’s best community colleges as rated by the Wash-ington-based Aspen Institute.
The nonprofit Aspen Institute on Monday released its list of the top 120 community colleges in the nation. The institute evaluated publicly available data in areas of high standards for learning, college completion without delay and being training grounds for jobs that pay competitive wages. Nearly 1,200 community colleges across the nation were evaluated. Data used focused on performance, improvement and completion outcomes for disadvantaged students.
NOC is one of only three Oklahoma community colleges that made the list. It is now eligible to compete for the Aspen Prize for Com-munity College Excellence.
Rachel Roth, program manager for the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, said applications for the competition are due June 17. The winning college, to be announced in December, will get approximately $700,000.
Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, emphasized the importance of high standards for community colleges.
“Unprecedented numbers of students are choosing to attend community college as the cost of four-year college grows increasingly out of reach for many families in America,” Wyner said. “To ensure student success and fuel economic growth for communities and the nation, community colleges must — now more than ever — make a commitment to excellence and stronger student outcomes.”
Prize criteria include degree or certificate completion rates, labor market outcomes and student learning outcomes. Colleges must demonstrate that they deliver exceptional student results, use data to drive decisions and continually improve over time.
The Aspen Institute will conduct site visits in the fall to each of the eight to 10 finalist colleges. The grand prize winner and two to three runners-up will be announced in December.
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