The D.C.-based non-profit the Aspen Institute has ranked the nation’s top 120 community colleges.
To pick the winners, judges analyzed Department of Education data on the percentage of students who graduate with an associate’s degree or successfully transfer from their community colleges into four-year institutions. They also assessed the proportion of low-income and minority students who completed each program, and if completion rates improved over time at the particular schools. The 120 winners, representing the top 10 percent of the country’s 1,200 community colleges, can now enter to win a $700,000 prize.
The six Missouri Community Colleges who won are:
Metropolitan Comm. College-Business & Technology-Kansas City, MO
Linn State Technical College Linn, MO
Crowder College Neosho, MO
Ozarks Technical Community College Springfield, MO
North Central Missouri College Trenton, MO
Missouri State University-West Plains West Plains, MO