Pierce College Fort Steilacoom Receives High Ranking From National Institute

It's an honor to start my involvement with Lakewood Patch's new blogging feature with some fantastic news for our Lakewood area college students.

We were notified last week that the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program named Pierce College Fort Steilacoom to its list of the nation’s 120 best community colleges for its high standards for learning, college completion without delay, and serving as a training ground for jobs that pay competitive wages.

Pierce is one of only four colleges in Washington to be named to the prestigious list. The others are Spokane Falls, Spokane, and Walla Walla community colleges.

“Pierce College faculty and staff make an ongoing commitment to students and to delivering programs and services to help them succeed at the highest levels,” said Denise Yochum, president of Pierce College Fort Steilacoom. “Earning this recognition from the Aspen Institute validates the quality of people and programs we have here, as well as the motivation and hard work of our students, who truly value education. It’s an honor to be recognized on a national level for the work we do at Pierce College.”

The winners were presented April 25 by Dr. Jill Biden, a professor at Northern Virginia Community College, and Arne Duncan, education secretary at the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C.

Inclusion on the list makes Pierce College Fort Steilacoom eligible to compete for the $700,000 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, which was announced at the White House’s Community College Summit in October.

Pierce College Fort Steilacoom is now eligible to submit an application containing detailed data that demonstrates that it delivers exceptional student results, uses data to drive decisions, and uses that information to continually improve over time.

Aspen will conduct site visits to each of the ten finalists in the fall. And, based on the evidence, the prize jury will select a grand prize winner and two to three runners-up, to be announced in December.

The full list of eligible institutions can be found at the Aspen Institute website.