One of our local schools, the College of Eastern Idaho, has been named a finalist for a million-dollar prize.

The prize is presented by the Lumina Foundation in their The Million Dollar Community College Challenge. The challenge’s goal is to support marketing and building at community colleges by awarding a $1 million dollar prize to the winner.

To enter the challenge hundreds of community colleges around the country had to submit videos of  college entrants telling the story of “what makes their college exceptional and unique to their communities.”

According to one College of Eastern Idaho student who wishes to remain anonymous, “I really hope CEI is awarded this prize. They go above and beyond to foster the needs of their students and this prize would be well deserved.

According to an interview conducted by East Idaho News, The Lumina Foundation says the goal of this challenge is to “identify community colleges that can clearly articulate a compelling vision for their brand and detail a strategic use of grant funds with a desire to transform marketing efforts to better support the enrollment and retention of students.”

Even if CEI is not selected as the winner they will still receive a prize as they have already secured the runner-up prize. The first-place winner will be awarded a $1 million prize, but the nine runner-ups will receive $100,000 each.

Other finalists include:

• Madera Community College in Madera, California
• Community College of Rhode Island in Warwick, Rhode Island
• Houston Community College in Houston, Texas
• Great Falls College Montana State University in Great Falls, Montana
• County College of Morris in Randolph, New Jersey
• Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California
• Northwest-Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
• Minnesota State College Southeast in Winona, Minnesota
• Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin

The winner will be announced in August 2022.