FAIRFIELD — Kennebec Valley Community College is competing for $1 million in prize money after being named one of the best community colleges in the country recently.

This is the second consecutive year The Aspen Institute has ranked the local college in the top 10 percent of its peers in the United States, based on student success rates.

“Kennebec Valley Community College is honored to receive this national recognition for a second time,” college President Barbara Woodlee said in a news release.

“This ranking reaffirms that our efforts to achieve high student retention and graduation rates are working and that even as KVCC grows, our focus on student success remains strong.”

The $1 million award will be presented next March after a more in-depth process that assesses how well students learn, complete degrees and get jobs with competitive wages after graduating from the nominated colleges.

The winner will receive a $600,000 prize; the remaining $400,000 will be divided among the four finalists.

Kennebec Valley Community College and the other 119 first-round winners were selected from a pool of 1,008 community colleges, according to The Aspen Institute.

Judges selected them after evaluating information that included graduation rates, degrees awarded and student retention rates, according to Jonathan Humphrey, marketing specialist at the college.

To be considered for the top honor, the college has until May 25 to submit an application with additional information about its degree and certificate completion rates.

The Aspen Institute said the 10 colleges that best demonstrate improvement and use of data to make decisions and deliver student results will be named finalists in September.

Valencia College in Orlando, Fla. won the inaugural award, presented in 2011.

The purpose of the prize “is to honor excellence, stimulate innovation and define what success looks like for community colleges” so practices that greatly improve results can be duplicated, according to the Institute.

In the past year, the college, whose enrollment surpassed 2,500 students this fall, has unveiled a new health-care simulation laboratory; an early childhood education associate degree program; an 80-foot, 5-kilowatt wind turbine; and the Northeast Solar Heating and Cooling Instructor Training Project.

In January, the Maine Community College System used $4.5 million of a Harold Alfond Foundation gift to buy 690 acres and 13 buildings from Good Will-Hinckley along U.S. Route 201.

The purchase will allow the college to expand its campus, enrollment and course offerings.

Washington County Community College in Calais also was nominated for the award.

Beth Staples — 861-9252

[email protected]