June 13, 2024

HACU Congratulates the finalists of the 2025 Aspen Prize

The Aspen Institute has announced 10 community colleges that are finalists for the $1 million Aspen Prize, the nation’s signature recognition awarded every two years to community colleges that are achieving high, improving, and equitable outcomes of student success, as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds.

“The outstanding qualities and performances of our member institutions listed as finalists and semifinalists demonstrates how Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) are leading the charge on education and teaching in diverse communities across the nation,” said HACU President and CEO Antonio R. Flores. “We are very proud of these HSIs being recognized for serving all their students with a dedication and passion that should be modeled universally by all our colleges and universities.”

Four of the college finalists - Moorpark College, Northwest Vista College, San Jacinto College, and UCNJ Union College of Union County - are HACU-member institutions.*

The 10 college finalists (HSIs in bold) are:
Georgia Highlands College, Ga.
Moorpark College, Calif.*
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Wis.
Northwest Vista College, Texas*
San Jacinto College, Texas*
Seminole State College of Florida
South Puget Sound Community College, Wash.
Southwest Wisconsin Technical College, Wis.
UCNJ Union College of Union County, N.J.*
Wallace State Community College-Hanceville, Ala.

The Aspen Institute announced the 20 semifinalists on May 7, 2024, half of which are Hispanic-Serving Institutions from California (2), Florida (2), Texas (2) Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Colorado, and include Broward College, Kingsborough Community College, Trinidad State College, William Rainey Harper College and MiraCosta College.*

Awarded every two years, the Aspen Prize honors colleges with outstanding performance in six critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, broad access to the college and its offerings, and equitable outcomes for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds. The winner will be announced in the spring of 2025.

Previous winners of the Aspen Prize include HSIs and HACU-member institutions Amarillo College and Imperial Valley College in 2023, and San Antonio College in 2021.