Cuesta College honored as one of Aspen Institute’s top 150 Community Colleges

SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif. – Cuesta College has been named as one of the 150 institutions nationwide selected for the Aspen Institute Prize for Community College Excellence.

The $1 million prize is the nation's signature recognition of the highest-achieving among two-year colleges.

“At the heart of Cuesta College’s mission is the relentless pursuit of brighter futures and equitable outcomes for each student that we serve,” said Cuesta College Superintendent and President Dr. Jill Stearns. "Our inclusion among the Aspen Prize Top 150 Community Colleges for 2025 stands as a testament to the extraordinary commitment of our faculty and classified professionals. This is an amazing recognition of Cuesta’s strong and improving student success and graduation rates.”

Cuesta College provides some of the highest-quality educational opportunities to over 10,000 students in San Luis Obispo County, is a Hispanic-Serving Institution, and was named a 2021 Equity Champion for Excellence.

“The Aspen Prize is rooted first and foremost in an assessment of whether colleges are walking the walk,” said Josh Wyner, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “As community colleges face enrollment variations, enroll students with pandemic-related learning loss, and graduate students into a rapidly changing labor market, it is easy to lose track of what matters most. The best community colleges are continuing to focus on advancing the core mission: making sure as many students as possible graduate with credentials that lead to fulfilling careers and reflect the development of diverse talent that communities, states, and our nation need."

The Aspen Institute uses six critical areas to assess competitors: teaching and learning, certificate and degree completion, transfer and bachelor’s attainment, workforce success, equitable access to the college, and equitable outcomes for students of color and students from low-income backgrounds.

A full list of the 150 Colleges selected can be found here.

The steps in the evaluation process are below:

• April 2024: Announcement of 25 semifinalists, selected based on assessments of data and strategy documents by the Prize Selection Panel, a group of 16 experts in community colleges, higher education, and workforce training, and interviews with institutional leadership teams
• June 2024: Announcement of ten finalists, selected by the Prize Selection Panel
• Fall 2024: Site visits for each of the ten finalists, during which the Aspen Institute and partners will collect additional information, including employment and earnings data and insights about promising practices
• January 2025: Prize award decisions made by an independent Prize Jury at a full-day meeting
• Spring 2025: Announcement of the Aspen Prize Winner and celebration of the ten finalists in Washington DC