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The D.C.-based non-profit the Aspen Institute has ranked the nation's top 120 community colleges. Dr. Jill Biden, a community college professor, and Education Secretary Arne Duncan helped present the winners today.
The analysis and resulting list are part of an initiative to improve graduation rates among the six million Americans who enroll in the primarily two-year, public educational institutions each year. Community colleges are now the fastest-growing sector of higher education in this country, with students making up 40 percent of total undergrads nationwide.
President Obama pledged $12 billion to community colleges as part of his goal for the United States to lead the world in the proportion of college graduates by 2020, but Congress only approved a fraction of that funding. The Aspen competition was announced at a White House conference on community colleges last fall.
To pick the winners, judges analyzed Department of Education data on the percentage of students who graduate with an associate's degree or successfully transfer from their community colleges into four-year institutions. They also assessed the proportion of low-income and minority students who completed each program, and if completion rates improved over time at the particular schools. The 120 winners, representing the top 10 percent of the country's 1,200 community colleges, can now enter to win a $700,000 prize.
Even as millions of students have flocked to overcrowded community colleges during the recession, the institutions are doing a pretty bad job at graduating those students. Fewer than three in ten full-time community college students graduate with a two-year degree in three years, according to Department of Education data. And not even half of all students who enroll in community colleges with the goal of graduating from them or transferring to a four-year university meet that goal within six years.
One major problem is that the bulk of community college students take remedial courses because they did not learn basic math and reading comprehension in high school. Remedial courses do not transfer to four-year universities, and they also slow students' progress toward an associate's degree, even though they are often necessary. Another problem is that not all community colleges are clear about which courses transfer to four-year institutions, so students often waste time on classes that don't get them closer to a bachelor's degree.
The point of the Aspen competition is to identify colleges that are beating these problems so that their strategies can be exported to struggling schools with dismal graduation rates.
Community college enrollment surged in 2008 even as the percentage of young people in four-year colleges stayed flat. Some community colleges have had to turn students away as their shrinking budgets haven't been able to keep up with record enrollment. California community colleges warn they may have to reject as many as 400,000 applicants this fall.
Here's the full list of the top colleges:
| Alabama | |
| Enterprise-Ozark Community College | Enterprise, AL |
| George C. Wallace State Community College-Hanceville | Hanceville, AL |
| Northeast Alabama Community College | Rainsville, AL |
| Arizona | |
| Cochise College Estrella Mountain Community College |
Douglas, AZ
Avondale, AZ |
| Arkansas | |
| Arkansas State University-Beebe | Beebe, AR |
| California | |
| Coastline Community College | Fountain Valley, CA |
| Santa Barbara City College | Santa Barbara, CA |
| Allan Hancock College | Santa Maria, CA |
| San Joaquin Delta College | Stockton, CA |
| Mt San Antonio College | Walnut, CA |
| Colorado | |
| Trinidad State Junior College | Trinidad, CO |
| Florida | |
| South Florida Community College | Avon Park, FL |
| Brevard Community College | Cocoa, FL |
| Daytona State College | Daytona Beach, FL |
| Broward College | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| Santa Fe College | Gainesville, FL |
| Lake City Community College | Lake City, FL |
| Lake-Sumter Community College | Leesburg, FL |
| Chipola College | Marianna, FL |
| Miami Dade College | Miami, FL |
| Northwest Florida State College | Niceville, FL |
| Central Florida Community College | Ocala, FL |
| Valencia Community College | Orlando, FL |
| Saint Johns River Community College | Palatka, FL |
| Tallahassee Community College | Tallahassee, FL |
| Georgia | |
| Augusta Technical College | Augusta, GA |
| Illinois | |
| Southeastern Illinois College | Harrisburg, IL |
| Rend Lake College | Ina, IL |
| Lake Land College | Mattoon, IL |
| Illinois Eastern Comm. Colleges-Olney Central College | Olney, IL |
| Illinois Eastern Comm. Colleges-Lincoln Trail College | Robinson, IL |
| Iowa | |
| Northeast Iowa Community College-Calmar | Calmar, IA |
| Indian Hills Community College | Ottumwa, IA |
| Northwest Iowa Community College | Sheldon, IA |
| Kansas | |
| Salina Area Technical College | Salina, KS |
| Cowley County Community College | Arkansas City, KS |
| North Central Kansas Technical College | Beloit, KS |
| Flint Hills Technical College | Emporia, KS |
| Garden City Community College | Garden City, KS |
| Northwest Kansas Technical College | Goodland, KS |
| Hutchinson Community College | Hutchinson, KS |
| Manhattan Area Technical College | Manhattan, KS |
| Kentucky | |
| Ashland Community and Technical College | Ashland, KY |
| Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College | Cumberland, KY |
| Hazard Community and Technical College | Hazard, KY |
| Madisonville Community College | Madisonville, KY |
| Maysville Community and Technical College | Maysville, KY |
| West Kentucky Community and Technical College | Paducah, KY |
| Big Sandy Community and Technical College | Prestonsburg, KY |
| Somerset Community College | Somerset, KY |
| Maine | |
| Washington County Community College | Calais, ME |
| Kennebec Valley Community College | Fairfield, ME |
| Michigan | |
| Kellogg Community College | Battle Creek, MI |
| Macomb Community College | Warren, MI |
| Mott Community College | Flint, MI |
| Gogebic Community College | Ironwood, MI |
| Delta College | University Center, MI |
| Minnesota | |
| Alexandria Technical College | Alexandria, MN |
| Central Lakes College-Brainerd | Brainerd, MN |
| Minnesota State Community and Technical College | Fergus Falls, MN |
| Minnesota West Community and Technical College | Granite Falls, MN |
| Mississippi | |
| East Central Community College | Decatur, MS |
| Mississippi Delta Community College | Moorhead, MS |
| Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College | Perkinston, MS |
| Pearl River Community College | Poplarville, MS |
| Hinds Community College | Raymond, MS |
| Missouri | |
| Metropolitan Comm. College-Business & Technology | Kansas City, MO |
| Linn State Technical College | Linn, MO |
| Crowder College | Neosho, MO |
| Ozarks Technical Community College | Springfield, MO |
| North Central Missouri College | Trenton, MO |
| Missouri State University-West Plains | West Plains, MO |
| Montana | |
| Fort Belknap College | Harlem, MT |
| Chief Dull Knife College | Lame Deer, MT |
| Miles Community College | Miles City, MT |
| Nebraska | |
| Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture | Curtis, NE |
| Southeast Community College Area | Lincoln, NE |
| Northeast Community College | Norfolk, NE |
| New Mexico | |
| Navajo Technical College | Crownpoint, NM |
| New York | |
| CUNY Kingsborough Community College | Brooklyn, NY |
| Erie Community College | Buffalo, NY |
| SUNY College of Technology at Canton | Canton, NY |
| Corning Community College | Corning, NY |
| Niagara County Community College | Sanborn, NY |
| Onondaga Community College | Syracuse, NY |
| Hudson Valley Community College | Troy, NY |
| North Carolina | |
| Surry Community College | Dobson, NC |
| Coastal Carolina Community College | Jacksonville, NC |
| James Sprunt Community College | Kenansville, NC |
| Cleveland Community College | Shelby, NC |
| Davidson County Community College | Thomasville, NC |
| Ohio | |
| Lorain County Community College | Elyria, OH |
| Oklahoma | |
| Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology-Okmulgee | Okmulgee, OK |
| Carl Albert State College | Poteau, OK |
| Northern Oklahoma College | Tonkawa, OK |
| Pennsylvania | |
| Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology | Lancaster, PA |
| South Carolina | |
| University of South Carolina-Union | Union, SC |
| South Dakota | |
| Mitchell Technical Institute | Mitchell, SD |
| Lake Area Technical Institute | Watertown, SD |
| Texas | |
| Alvin Community College | Alvin, TX |
| Trinity Valley Community College | Athens, TX |
| Lee College | Baytown, TX |
| Blinn College | Brenham, TX |
| Texas State Technical College-West Texas | Sweetwater, TX |
| Texarkana College | Texarkana, TX |
| Southwest Texas Junior College | Uvalde, TX |
| Victoria College | Victoria, TX |
| Wharton County Junior College | Wharton, TX |
| Utah | |
| Snow College | Ephraim, UT |
| Virginia | |
| Wytheville Community College | Wytheville, VA |
| Washington | |
| Pierce College at Fort Steilacoom | Lakewood, WA |
| Spokane Falls Community College | Spokane, WA |
| Spokane Community College | Spokane, WA |
| Walla Walla Community College | Walla Walla, WA |
| West Virginia | |
| Carver Career Center | Charleston, WV |
| Bridgemont Community and Technical College | Montgomery, WV |
| Wisconsin | |
| Moraine Park Technical College | Fond du Lac, WI |
| Northeast Wisconsin Technical College | Green Bay, WI |
| Milwaukee Area Technical College | Milwaukee, WI |
(Students in Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, one of many community colleges where enrollment has surged: AP)