Washington state’s Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech) has been named as one of 150 community colleges eligible to compete for the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s signature recognition of high achievement and performance in America’s community colleges.

LWTech was selected from a pool of nearly 1,000 public two-year colleges nationwide to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize.

“This is a testament to the hard work and dedication to student success of our faculty and staff. LWTech is a humble, hardworking and dedicated college focused on supporting students along every step of their journey. It means a great deal to us to have our hard work validated by the prestigious Aspen Institute. This is a proud day for our college,” commented LWTech President, Dr. Amy Morrison Goings.

Awarded every two years since 2011, the Aspen Prize recognizes institutions with outstanding achievements in four areas: learning; certificate and degree completion; employment and earnings; and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students.

LWTech will move forward to the next round of the competition for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence by submitting an application to be reviewed through a rigorous evaluation for a spot on the top ten Aspen Prize finalists list. Top ten finalists will be named in May 2018. The Aspen Institute will then conduct site visits to each of the finalists and collect additional quantitative data. A distinguished Prize Jury will select a grand prize winner, finalist(s) with distinction, and rising star(s) in spring 2019.

Other eligible Washington community colleges are: Olympic College, Pierce College-Fort Steilacoom, Renton Technical College, South Puget Sound Community College, and Whatcom Community College.