Two North Carolina community colleges are ranked among the top 10 in the country by a global think tank, having qualified as finalists for the 2027 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.
Forsyth Technical Community College and Stanly Community College were selected in June from more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide, and the Aspen Institute will award the winner next April with a $1 million prize.
To qualify, the community colleges had to show improvements in graduation rates and job attainment.
At Forsyth Tech in Winston-Salem, graduation rates grew between 2020 and 2025 from 19% to 45% for all students and from 12% to 45% for minority students. Stanly Community College, which is in Albemarle about an hour outside Charlotte, has a 49% graduation rate, setting both schools above the national average of 37%.
Paula Dibley, chief officer of student success and strategic innovation at Forsyth Tech, attributes its success to the college’s Vision 2025 plan. Launched in 2020, Dibley said the framework was designed to address non-academic challenges. For example, the college shortened course lengths from 16 weeks to eight to create more flexibility for students, and it created an advising program to address barriers such as food insecurity.
Stanly Community College reorganized its course offerings in the last decade, setting up clear pathways for each program so that students complete their degrees in a particular order. The college has made sweeping improvements since reporting a 13% graduation rate 15 years ago, according to Vice President of Student Services Carmen Nunalee.
“That success really requires knowing who those students are, who they want to be, what are they seeking, what are their goals, and then setting in motion the steps that are necessary for faculty and staff to be able to walk beside students and help them to finish their college journey,” Nunalee said.
