Green River College lauded by Aspen Institute; expands four-year and career programs

Green River College President Dr. Suzanne Johnson said the college has been identified since 2021 as one of the Aspen Institute's top 150 community colleges in the United States and highlighted recent program growth including applied bachelor's (BAS) degrees and nursing and career-technical offerings.

"Green River has the distinction of having been identified since 2021 as one of the top 150 community colleges in our country by the Aspen Institute for College Excellence," Dr. Suzanne Johnson said. "That's really a testament to the wonderful faculty and staff that we have at our institution, how we are prioritizing student success for all students."

The college is one of 34 community and technical colleges in Washington state and competes in a national field of roughly 1,100 community colleges, Johnson said. She named transfer outcomes and employment after program completion as two of the Aspen Institute's key metrics. "One of the measures of the success for a college is how successful students transfer," she said, and added that career-technical programs such as nursing, cybersecurity and natural resources management aim to place graduates directly into local jobs.

Johnson described recent additions and expansions at Green River, including BAS degrees in cybersecurity, software development and a newly launched BAS in accounting, as well as a bachelor-level nursing pathway (BSN). She also said the college runs strong vocational and trades programs in welding, automotive and construction, and is planning an electric vehicle repair program.

"We have students that transfer nationally to institutions," Johnson said. "And we have a lot of career technical programs where you've got students that come into our college, they know what they want to do...the measure we have is how successful are they in getting a job when they complete their degree with us."

Johnson pointed to partnerships across Auburn, Algona, Pacific, the Auburn School District and local employers as part of the college's effort to align training with regional labor demand. She urged prospective students to use the college's website to explore "areas of interest" and said the campus offers one-on-one advising at the student affairs welcome desk and a career advising center.

The college also hosts a sizable international student population and has become majority students-of-color, Johnson said, which she described as an asset for a campus preparing students for an interconnected workforce.

There was no formal action or vote in the podcast discussion; Johnson's remarks were descriptive of institutional status, programs and partnerships.