TEXAS’ ODESSA COLLEGE RECOGNIZED BY THE ASPEN INSTITUTE AS ONE OF THE TOP COMMUNITY
COLLEGES IN THE NATION
$100,000 Award Recognizes Rapid Improvement in Student Outcomes
CONTACTS: Cheri Dalton, cdalton@odessa.edu, 432-335-6530
Gideon Hertz, ghertz@burness.com, 301-280-5734
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 2, 2019 —Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, a finalist for the 2019 Aspen Prize for Community
College Excellence, was recognized today by Aspen with a Rising Star award for dramatic
improvement, accompanied by a $100,000 cash award. During a ceremony at the Newseum
in Washington, D.C., Odessa College was honored for its remarkable efforts to engage
students and faculty, resulting in a record-low course withdrawal rate of 1.8 percent
and an increase in the graduation and transfer rate over five years from 15 percent
to 36 percent.
“In a community where a college education has historically not been needed for a good
job in the oil fields, Odessa understands that the world of work is changing and will
demand increasing levels of educational attainment,” said Joshua Wyner, executive
director of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program. “That is why Odessa
is singularly focused on finding innovative strategies to help students connect to
and stay at the college to complete a credential, proving how fast student success
rates can be improved.”
The $1 million Aspen Prize, awarded every two years since 2011, recognizes outstanding
institutions selected from an original pool of more than 1,000 community colleges
nationwide. With a singular focus on student success, the Aspen Prize assesses institutional
performance in four areas: student learning, certificate and degree completion, success
after graduation in the labor market and transfer to four-year institutions, and equity
in access and success for students of color and low-income students.
The 2019 Aspen Prize winners, Indian River State College (Fort Pierce, Florida) and Miami Dade College (Miami) will receive $350,000 each. Aspen awarded three colleges with the “Rising
Star” award for their strong record of improvement: Odessa, Palo Alto College (San Antonio, Texas), and Pierce College at Fort Steilacoom (Lakewood, Washington). Each will receive $100,000.
The Prize winners, Rising Stars, and finalists were announced by Aspen Prize jury
co-chairs Ángel Cabrera, president of George Mason University, and Kathy Warden, chief
executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman. Cabrera and Warden led a distinguished
Prize jury of education, business, and civil rights experts to select the top colleges,
part of a rigorous review process that included the examination of extensive data
on performance and improvements in learning, graduation, workforce, and equitable
outcomes, along with multiday site visits to each finalist school.
For more information on Odessa College and a national press release, visit: https://bit.ly/2FK6HkM.
The Aspen Prize is generously funded by ECMC Foundation, Joyce Foundation, The Kresge Foundation,
and Siemens Foundation.
The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program aims to advance higher education practices, policies, and leadership that significantly
improve student outcomes, especially for the growing population of low-income students
and students of color on American campuses. The program is part of The Aspen Institute,
which has a mission of fostering leadership based on enduring values and providing
a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. For more information, visit http://highered.aspeninstitute.org/ and www.linkedin.com/showcase/aspenhighered and follow @AspenHigherEd on Twitter.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission
is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue
for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen,
Colorado; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in
New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit
www.aspeninstitute.org.