Santa Barbara City College’s acting president, Dr. Jack Friedlander, traveled to Washington, D.C., this week for the Aspen Institute’s long-awaited College Excellence awards ceremony. From a field of more than 1,200 community colleges around the country, SBCC was the only California school in the final 10 heading into Monday’s award luncheon. Unfortunately, our local community college on the hill did not take home a prize — the $600,000 first place prize went to Florida’s Valencia College. But, thanks to its top 10 finish, SBCC’s “best practices” will be featured in a report provided to all the accredited community colleges in the country in an effort to raise the bar of performance and standards at schools nationwide.
