Mt. SAC Eligible for 2025 Aspen Prize
October 31, 2023 - 10:08 AM
Mt. San Antonio College has been named one of 150 institutions eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation's signature recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year 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.
“Being selected to apply for the Aspen Prize is a significant accomplishment,” said Dr. Martha Garcia, Mt. SAC’s president/CEO. “We are deeply honored to be recognized for the exemplary work we do. Thank you to our Mt. SAC employees and trustees for your commitment to student success and excellence.”
Mt. SAC and the other colleges have been invited to submit student success data and narratives about strategies to achieve better and more equitable student outcomes as the next step in an intensive review process that culminates in the naming of the Aspen Prize winner in spring 2025.
Awarded every two years, the Aspen Prize honors colleges that show outstanding performance in six critical areas: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, equitable access to the college, and equitable outcomes for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.
“The Aspen Prize is rooted first and foremost in an assessment of whether colleges are walking the walk,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “As community colleges face enrollment variations, enroll students with pandemic-related learning loss, and graduate students into a rapidly changing labor market, it is easy to lose track of what matters most. The best community colleges are continuing to focus on advancing the core mission: making sure as many students as possible graduate with credentials that lead to fulfilling careers and reflect the development of diverse talent that communities, states, and our nation need.”
