WKCTC supporters watch remote awards announcement.

West Kentucky Community & Technical College Awarded $100,000 prize for achieving outstanding outcomes in: learning, degree completion, minority and low-income student success, and employment and earnings

Washington, DC, March 18, 2015 - The Aspen Institute announced today that West Kentucky Community & Technical College (WKCTC) in Paducah, Kentucky is a Finalist-with-Distinction for the 2015 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Selected from 1,123 community colleges nationwide, this is the second time WKCTC has been awarded this honor along with $100,000 in Prize funds to support its programs.

The Aspen Prize, the nation's preeminent recognition of high achievement and performance in America's community colleges, is awarded every two years and recognizes institutions for outstanding outcomes in four areas: student learning; certificate and degree completion; employment and earnings; and high levels of access and success for minority and low-income students.

This year's Aspen Prize winner, Santa Fe College (Gainesville, FL), will receive $800,000, while a second finalist-with-distinction, Lake Area Technical Institute, and the "Rising Star" recipient, Kennedy-King College (Chicago, IL), will receive $100,000 prizes. (See full list of Top Ten Prize Finalists below and read more information about them athttp://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-work/college-excellence/2015aspenprize.)