NICC named one of top ten community colleges in the country

Northeast Iowa Community College was named today as one of the nation's top ten community colleges by the Aspen Institute's College Excellence Program.

The finalist award qualifies NICC to compete for a $1 million prize fund that will be awarded in December in Washington, D.C., to the first-ever national winner and up to three runners-up.  

The Aspen Institute studied federal data submitted by all of the nation's nearly 1,200 community colleges.  From this data, Aspen selected the top ten percent, or 120 colleges, to compete for the grand prize.  NICC was named to this select group earlier this spring and was invited to complete an application and submit additional data.  From this application, a nine-member Finalist Selection Committee, comprised of former community college presidents, respected researchers and policy experts, identified NICC for its exceptional and improving graduate completion rates, labor-market results and student learning outcomes.  As part of the competition, the Aspen Institute conducted an on-site visit at the college's Calmar campus to gather additional data.

Aspen Institute members praised NICC for working hard to offer job-relevant degrees.  They also praised NICC's graduation rate, which is nearly 24 percent higher than the national average for community colleges.

"This is extremely gratifying to be listed among the nation's elite community colleges," stated NICC's interim President Liang Chee Wee. "We have worked really hard not only to ensure we have quality programming that meets workforce needs, but also that our students have the tools they need to be successful and graduate."