MGCCC is one of 20 Community Colleges Being Considered for the $1 Million National Prize that Recognizes Excellence in Student Outcomes, Both in College and After Graduation

On May 7, the Aspen Institute named Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College as a semifinalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The $1 million award is the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance among community colleges. The institutions selected for this honor stand out among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high and improving levels of student success, as well as equitable outcomes for Black and Hispanic students and those from lower-income backgrounds. MGCCC is the only community college in the state to be selected.

“We are honored to be named a semifinalist for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence,” said Dr. Mary S. Graham, president of MGCCC. “The recognition is a testament to the tireless efforts of our faculty, staff, and students in fostering an environment of academic achievement.  At MGCCC, we are deeply committed to providing educational experiences that empower all students to succeed.”

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.

Joshua Wyner, executive director of the Aspen College Excellence Program, congratulated the semifinalists. “Each of these colleges has demonstrated a sustained commitment to moving beyond enrollment and retention as the markers of student success to defining their success by whether the education they provide changes lives,” Wyner said. “These colleges understand that enrollment and graduation matter most when tied tightly to post-graduation success in transferring for a bachelor’s degree and in securing fulfilling, good-paying jobs and careers.”

The Aspen Prize selection process began in October 2023, when Aspen invited 150 community colleges to apply, based on data showing strong, improving, and equitable student outcomes in key areas such as retention, completion, and transfer. One hundred and eighteen colleges applied, and their applications went to a diverse selection committee of 18 higher education experts who assessed each application based on extensive data and narrative answers to questions. Following interviews with leadership teams from applicants receiving top scores, 20 semifinalists were selected. In the coming weeks, the committee will continue its review and narrow the field to 10 finalists, which will be announced in June.

After the 10 finalists are announced, next steps in the process include:

Fall 2024: Multi-day in-person site visits to each of the 10 finalists, during which the Aspen Institute and partners will collect additional information and data, including extensive employment and earnings data on graduates from the finalist colleges.

Winter 2025: A distinguished, independent Aspen Prize jury will review data and qualitative summaries that synthesize each part of the 14-month analyses, then meet for a full day to select the winner and others for additional recognition.

Spring 2025: Announcement of the Aspen Prize winner and celebration of the 10 finalists in Washington DC.

To read more on the selection process, visit https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/aspen-prize/.