Northwood Tech News

Rice Lake, WI - 11/7/2023 The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program has once again named Northwood Technical College as one of 150 top community colleges eligible to apply for the prestigious 2025 Aspen Award. Northwood Tech will be eligible to compete for the $1 million Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the nation’s esteemed award in recognition of high attainment, performance, and outcome standards among America's community colleges.

Northwood Tech had previously been named to the Aspen Institute’s top 150 U.S. community colleges in 2021and 2023.

In response to the recognition once again received at a national level, Northwood Tech President John Will stated, “On behalf of all the employees and the Board of Trustees at Northwood Tech, we’re proud to once again be recognized as one of the best two-year colleges in the United States. It reflects our commitment to serving our students and communities."

The evaluation process to award the Aspen Prize is carried out by the College Excellence Program through a rigorous two-year-long assessment of quantitative data, feedback from stakeholders at each campus, and evaluation of the comprehensive applications submitted by colleges. Aspen and higher education experts analyze evidence for each college based on student outcomes in each area of education and learning, graduation rates, graduate employability and earnings, and equity.

To be selected as part of the 150 colleges eligible to compete for the 2025 Aspen Award, data from each college is collected and analyzed from approximately 1,000 public two-year colleges. These collegiate populations consist of as few as 500 students and as many as 75,000 students located in urban, rural, and suburban areas across the nation. The 150 colleges are then whittled down to 10 finalists from which the top college is selected as the winner. 

To learn more about the Aspen Prize, visit highered.aspeninstitute.org/aspen-prize/.

For more information about Northwood Technical College and its diverse educational programs, please visit www.NorthwoodTech.edu.

Northwood Tech is grateful for all its community partnerships. Your support of the Northwood Tech Foundation is essential to student success. For information on how to contribute, visit www.NorthwoodTech.edu/donate.

Northwood Technical College is a nationally top-ranked college and designated Silver 2023-24 Military Friendly® School that puts your Learning First. Northwood Tech serves the educational and career needs of more than 15,000 residents of Northwestern Wisconsin each year. With multiple campuses, Northwood Tech offers career-focused associate degree programs, technical diplomas, short-term certificates, customized business training, and a wide array of courses for personal or career enrichment. Northwood Tech is a member of the Wisconsin Technical College System and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org). For more information, call 800.243.9482 or visit NorthwoodTech.edu. Northwood Technical College is an Equal Opportunity/Access/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer and Educator.