MCC Named in Top 150 Community Colleges in the Nation

The Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC, has named Middlesex County College as one of the top 150 community colleges in the nation.

The Aspen Institute identified the top 150 community colleges through an assessment of institutional performance, improvement, and equity on student retention and completion measures. MCC was selected from more than 1,000 community colleges in the United States that serve almost half of all undergraduates in the nation.

“Community colleges have tremendous power to change lives, and their success will increasingly define our nation’s economic strength and the potential for social mobility for every American,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “This competition is designed to spotlight the excellent work being done in the most effective community colleges, those that best help students obtain meaningful, high-quality education and training for competitive-wage jobs after college. We hope it will raise the bar and provide a roadmap for community colleges nationwide.”

The only other New Jersey community college to make the list is Ocean County College.

Middlesex is now eligible to compete for $1 million in funding from the Aspen Institute.

The 150 are located in 37 states across the nation; they represent urban, rural, and suburban markets; and they encompass large and small community colleges – from Miami Dade College in Florida serving over 100,000 students to Carver Career Center in West Virginia with fewer than 500 students.

A full list of the 150 community colleges is available at www.AspenPrize.org.