Team HWC: Please join me in congratulating Kennedy-King College for winning the first-ever Aspen “Rising Star” award! We each received an email update from City Colleges of Chicago with more details of the prestigious award; the email is shared below.
Kennedy-King College has won the first-ever Aspen “Rising Star” award for rapid improvement in college completion. Kennedy-King, a finalist for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, was selected from more than 1,100 community colleges nationwide for this award.
Kennedy-King was recognized by the Aspen Institute for the significant improvements in completion made since the launch of City Colleges’ Reinvention initiative. Kennedy-King College will receive $100,000 in prize funds.
The Aspen Institute named many reasons why Kennedy-King College stands out as the one of the nation’s top community colleges, including:
· Since the launch of Reinvention at Kennedy-King College:
o The college’s official federally-recognized graduation rate has more than tripled
o Total number of degrees and certificates awarded increased by more than 75 percent
o Remarkable improvement in its transfer rate, rising 38 percent
· Launch of College to Careers, where college faculty and administrators partnered with leaders in the culinary and hospitality industry to ensure students receive stackable credentials of economic value that are relevant to the marketplace, providing students the opportunity to gain work experience while pursuing an associate degree.
· Development of clear, structured career pathways through Student GPS, which outlines the student’s semester by semester path through the institution while working toward their career and academic goals, combined with an increase in student supports and intensive advising.
You can click here to learn more about the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
