Mattoon, IL-(Effingham Radio)- The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program named Lake Land College as one of the top 150 community colleges in the nation. This is the fifth time Lake Land College has received this recognition. The colleges selected for this honor stand out in the top 15% of community colleges in the nation among more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide as having high and improving levels of student success in learning, completion rates, employment rates and earnings as well as equitable outcomes for underserved students and those from lower-income backgrounds.
“Receiving this honor from the Aspen Institute for the fifth time spotlights the outstanding collaboration and commitment our faculty, staff and trustees demonstrate on a daily basis,” Lake Land College President Josh Bullock said. “We continuously evaluate and improve programs and services to create an excellent learning environment that provides a pathway for students to accomplish their goals and launch successful careers.”
The Aspen Prize spotlights exemplary community colleges in order to elevate the sector, drive attention to colleges doing the best work and discover and share highly effective student success and equity strategies. Since 2010, Aspen has chosen to focus intensively on community colleges because they are—as First Lady Dr. Jill Biden stated at the 2021 Aspen Prize ceremony—“a powerful engine of prosperity.”
“In an era of persistent inequity and workforce talent gaps, our nation’s best community colleges are stepping up to deliver more degrees to increasingly diverse students so they are prepared for the good jobs waiting to be filled,” Executive Director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program Josh Wyner said. “Leaders of exceptional community colleges understand that achieving excellence requires expanding college access and increasing degree completion, but it doesn’t stop there. They are committed to ensuring that all students—including students of color and those from low-income backgrounds—graduate with the skills needed to secure a job with family-sustaining wages or successfully transfer to and graduate from a university. That same commitment that stands at the center of the Aspen Prize: to advance the goals of social mobility and equitable talent development.”
For more information, visit aspeninstitute.org.
To learn more about Lake Land College visit lakelandcollege.edu.
Lake Land College District 517, located in Mattoon, Illinois, serves the second largest community college district in the state, with a total population of 189,869. The Lake Land College district comprises all or part of 15 counties and 31 public school districts in rural east central Illinois. Counties served by Lake Land College include: Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar, Effingham, Fayette, Jasper, Macon, Montgomery, Moultrie and Shelby.
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