Central Lakes College is among the top 10 percent of the community colleges in the country. The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program lists CLC among the top 120 community colleges, based on high standards for learning, completion rates, and training for competitive jobs. The recent acknowledgement means that CLC is in contention for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. There will be one winner of approximately $700,000 and three runners-up announced in December. Former Michigan Governor John Engler and former Secretary of Education Richard Riley co-chair the jury. Those schools competing for the Aspen Prize submit applications and show they deliver outstanding student results, use data to drive decisions and continually improve over time. The purpose of the Aspen Prize is to recognize community colleges with outstanding academic and workforce outcomes in both absolute performance and improvements over time. By focusing on student success and lifting up models that work, the prize will honor excellence, stimulate innovation, and create benchmarks for measuring progress. In Round 2, a Selection Committee of subject matter experts will examine data submitted by eligible institutions to identify those that deliver exceptional student outcomes in three areas: completion, the labor-market, and learning. Political and education leaders increasingly are calling for a concerted focus on student success in community colleges (and, indeed, across the postsecondary spectrum). President Obama articulated a bold national goal for the U.S. to regain the international lead in postsecondary education by 2020, and leading national foundations and nonprofit organizations have embraced similar goals. Clearly, community colleges will have to play a major role if America is to dramatically boost educational attainment: more than 6,000,000 students – youth and adult learners – enroll in America’s nearly 1,200 community colleges every year. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence will focus attention and galvanize efforts on the postsecondary completion agenda. It will create a new demand for – and supply of – exceptional practices. It will inspire and reward those community colleges that are the most effective incubators of successful students and skilled workers. Most important, it will generate acclaim for the educators whose efforts have been ignored for too long -- and spur a new generation of leaders to innovate for student success. To learn more go to www.aspenccprize.org