It’s no accident that the competition for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence has been dominated by Florida colleges.
The very first prize, awarded in 2011, went to Valenica College, in Orlando. This year the prize was awarded to Santa Fe College, located in Gainesville.
And according to Rob Johnstone, president of the National Center for Inquiry & Improvement, 26 of the state’s 29 community colleges would have ranked among the top 100 colleges had not the Aspen jury — of which Johnstone was a member — tweaked the rules to create more balance.
