Three Central Florida community colleges will be competing to win the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The winner gets $1 million.
Fourteen Florida two-year colleges have been selected to compete for the prize.
In Central Florida, Daytona State College, Lake-Sumter State College, and Seminole State College were chosen.
Each of the community colleges celebrated the news Tuesday.
“It’s a tremendous honor for Daytona State to be recognized among the top colleges in the nation,” President Tom LoBasso said in a prepared statement. "This acknowledgment reflects the dedication of our faculty and staff and the hard work of our students.”
“This distinction reflects the unwavering dedication of our faculty and staff to helping students achieve their goals,” Lake-Sumter State College President John Temple said in a news release. “I am especially proud of our commitment to ensuring that Lake-Sumter graduates are truly job ready.”
Valencia College won the prize in 2011. Seminole State College was one of the ten finalists for the Aspen Prize in 2025.
"It is a privilege to once again be invited to apply for the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, an honor that reflects the transformative work happening at Seminole State,” Seminole State President Georgia Lorenz said. “This opportunity highlights our dedication to academic excellence and the success of our students throughout their college career and in their achievements beyond graduation.”
The one million dollar prize recognizes high achievement and student performance amongst two-year colleges.
The Central Florida colleges are three of 200 community colleges selected based on their “student outcomes data, including retention, completion, transfer, and bachelor’s attainment rates.”
Next up, they will participate in a rigorous review and application process. Over the next 20 months, colleges will be assessed based on measures of student success. These include career placement and salaries after graduation. The winner will be announced in the spring of 2027.
Here’s the full list of Florida community colleges competing for the award:
- Broward College
- Chipola College
- Daytona State College
- Florida Gateway College
- Florida State College at Jacksonville
- Gulf Coast State College
- Lake-Sumter State College
- Palm Beach State College
- Pensacola State College
- Seminole State College of Florida
- St. Johns River State College
- St. Petersburg College
- State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota
- Tallahassee State College
