Aspen Institute College puts Pierce in the running to win a million of dollars
Sofiya Lavochina
Staff Writer

Pierce has been presented with a great honor.

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has included the Fort Steilacoom campus of Pierce College on the list of the nation’s 120 best community colleges.

The College Excellence Program (CEP) aims to find inspiration for campus-wide practices that help improve student’s outcomes.

The CEP mission as stated on their website, http://www.aspeninstitute.org, is “Through the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the New College Leadership Project and other initiatives, the College Excellence Program works to improve colleges’ understanding and capacity to teach and graduate students, especially the growing population of low-income and minority students on American campuses.”

The Aspen Institute College has nominated Pierce for the second time. The top 120 community colleges chosen where chosen on specific criteria.

Proficiency in three key areas has lead Pierce College to compete and prove that Pierce is a top college.

The first criterion of the CEP is student success in persistence, completion, and transfer. The second thing that the CEP was looking for was constant improvement in degree outcomes over time.

The third criteria was for equality in outcomes for students from all racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

Pierce College is one of only six colleges in Washington to be on the list of the best community colleges in the nation because of its high standard when it comes to learning, college achievement without holdup, and service as a teaching ground for future job opportunities.

“It’s a very high honor [to be nominated] and it shows the quality of the students that we have and the dedication they have to learning. [The nomination] shows the excellence and quality of our staff that really stay focused on student success and focus on removing barriers and decreasing barriers for students so they can push forward and complete their degrees,” said Denise Yochum, president of Pierce College Fort Steilacoom.

An award that totals to $1 million is also included in the CEP competition.

Pierce College is eligible to battle for the $600,000 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

If Pierce College submits an application to compete for the honor a year-long research process into how well students learn, complete degrees, and get jobs with competitive wages after graduating will be effective.

The Aspen Institute will visits each of the eight to 10 finalists in September and select winners that will be announced in March 2013.

“The college that is chosen as the top college will receive $600,000 to put back into their college and help students be successful. And the other $400,000 is split between the first, second, and third runners up,” Yochum said.

“There is an economic pro to this nomination but really it’s just an honor to know that our college can be successful in meeting our mission,” Yochum concluded.