{"id":2547,"date":"2025-10-29T10:09:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sw.edu\/news\/?p=2547"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:09:11","slug":"southwest-eligible-for-aspen-prize-for-community-college-excellence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sw.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/29\/southwest-eligible-for-aspen-prize-for-community-college-excellence\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Eligible for Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>CEDAR BLUFF, VA \u2014 <\/strong>Southwest Virginia Community College has been named as an eligible institution for the <strong>2027 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence<\/strong>, the nation\u2019s premier recognition of high achievement and performance among two-year colleges.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Awarded by the Aspen Institute, the Aspen Prize honors colleges that demonstrate outstanding outcomes and improving levels of student success in several areas, including teaching and learning; certificate and degree completion; transfer and bachelor\u2019s attainment; workforce success; and college and program access.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible honor for Southwest to be recognized as one of the top community colleges in the nation,\u201d said Dr. Clint Hayes, President of Southwest Virginia Community College. \u201cThis distinction reflects the shared commitment of our entire campus community to high-impact education, workforce innovation, and creating meaningful opportunities for every student who comes through our doors.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Out of more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide, only 200 are selected based on rigorous data analysis. This eligibility marks a significant milestone in Southwest Virginia Community College\u2019s commitment to student success and continuous improvement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Aspen Institute will announce finalists in April 2026, with the winner being announced in Spring 2027.&nbsp;For more information about the Aspen Prize, visit<a href=\"https:\/\/highered.aspeninstitute.org\/press-releases\/aspen-institute-names-top-200-us-community-colleges-eligible-2027-aspen-prize\"> Aspen Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CEDAR BLUFF, VA \u2014 Southwest Virginia Community College has been named as an eligible institution for the 2027 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation\u2019s premier recognition of high<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,27,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-featured","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.11 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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