Colorado, like other states across the country, utilizes various strategies to provide students with opportunities to achieve college credit in high school and cultivate seamless P-20 pathways to increase credential completion. For example, Colorado students take rigorous courses in high school through the Advanced Placement (AP) and International…

As originally conceptualized, Early Colleges were small schools focused purposefully on college readiness for all students. Frequently located on college campuses, Early Colleges targeted students who might face challenges in postsecondary education, including students who were the first in their family to go to college, economically disadvantaged…

Colorado, like other states across the country, utilizes various strategies to provide students with opportunities to achieve college credit in high school and cultivate seamless P-20 pathways to increase credential completion. For example, Colorado students take rigorous courses in high school through the Advanced Placement (AP) and International…

Colorado, like other states across the country, utilizes dual enrollment as a strategy to cultivate seamless P-20 pathways and increase credential completion. Dual enrollment programs provide high school students with the opportunity to enroll in college-level courses, simultaneously earning both high school and college credit, often at greatly…

Expanding pathways from high school to higher education is essential for Colorado to reach its goals of increasing college completion rates, erasing attainment gaps and increasing high school student engagement. Colorado, like other states across the country, utilizes dual enrollment as a strategy to cultivate seamless P-20 pathways and increase…

Higher education often operates under old rules -- rules that continue despite an increasingly diverse student population and improved understanding of human behavior and choice. Under these old rules, fewer than half of students graduate on time, if at all, and troubling equity gaps exist based on income, race, and ethnicity. It is time for new…

General biology courses (for majors) are often transferred from one institution to another. These courses must prepare students for upper division courses in biology. In Colorado, a Biology Transfer Articulation Agreement that includes general biology has been created across the state. An evaluation was conducted of course grades in two upper…

From 2008 to 2011, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) worked with six states (Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, and South Dakota) to improve policies and practices to increase adult degree completion as a way to raise overall state educational attainment levels. With funding from Lumina Foundation,…

Originally designed for students who test into at least two levels of developmental education in a particular subject area, FastStart is a compressed course program model launched in 2005 at the Community College of Denver (CCD). The program combines multiple semester-length courses into a single intensive semester, while providing case…

The Breaking Through (BT) initiative promotes an expanded and enhanced role for community colleges in providing access to college for low-skilled adults. BT is uniquely important in its systematic integration of adult education, developmental/remedial education, professional-technical education (PTE), and career planning and preparation in…