anta Fe College, in Gainesville, Florida, is the 2015 recipient of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Selected from among thousands of colleges, Santa Fe has a completion rate of 62 percent compared with the national average of 40 percent, and 70 percent of Santa Fe’s students are accepted at the University of Florida, in Gainesville. Since 2002, Jackson Sasser has been president of Santa Fe College. He attributes the college’s success to the faculty and the students and the “culture of excellence” that exists throughout the campus. In this 21st–Century Center interview, Sasser discusses some of the college’s successful programs and reflects on factors that have contributed to its achievements.
