Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia Lauds President Obama's Commitment to Expanding College Access

Press Release

Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia, who also serves as executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education, said he is interested to learn more about President Obama's plan to make community college free for committed students. President Obama announced details of his plan, America's College Promise, today.

"We support the President's efforts to create more opportunities for students of all ages and stages in life to earn an associate's degree," Garcia said. "Community college is a great access point. An increasing number of jobs require a postsecondary credential, and job prospects can improve dramatically with an associate's degree depending upon the field of study."

In fact, the number one goal in Colorado's higher education master plan is to increase the number of Coloradans aged who hold high-quality postsecondary credentials - certificates and degrees - to 66 percent by 2025. Another key goal is to close the degree attainment gaps faced by underrepresented college students.

Garcia pointed out that Colorado already has an infrastructure in place to respond to President Obama's challenge. Several Colorado initiatives are aimed at achieving similar goals: making sure college is accessible, affordable, linked to workforce needs and accountable for timely degree completion.

Key Colorado initiatives include:
· Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative: Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Garcia recently announced the award of $3.4 million in grant funds to support Colorado students -- especially those from low-income and/or underrepresented backgrounds -- on the path to and through college and into the workforce. These grants will be leveraged with private funds.

· Colorado Challenge: This program serves students who most need wraparound services and supplemental advising (first generation and low-income students, many of whom are students of color as well). Utilizing proven methods for student success, the Challenge seeks to demonstrate that intensive advising, summer transition programs, and strategic data tracking and monitoring will influence students' academic progress throughout their college careers, ultimately resulting in increased persistence and on-time completion rates.

· Guided Pathways to Success: Several programs are underway at Colorado campuses to help students finish their degrees more quickly. These programs include intensive, targeted student advising driven by data analytics,supportive scheduling, credit for prior learning, full-time course loads, and academic maps that guide students along clear academic and career pathways.

· Data and workforce collaboration: The Colorado Department of Higher Education works closely with other state agencies and business groups to develop the state's longitudinal data system to connect postsecondary outcomes to future jobs. The Department also publishes several interactive databases that examine salaries based upon degree by institution and postsecondary outcomes from every Colorado school district.

· Transfer agreements: Colorado has a range of transfer agreements that save students time and money. These agreements mean that students know in advance what courses they should take at a community college that are guaranteed to transfer to a public four-year institution.

· Accelerated remediation: Several programs are underway at Colorado campuses that provide alternatives to traditional remediation, or developmental education, which can become a costly roadblock for students on the path to completion. These alternatives include compressed courses or labs taught concurrently with a college level course.

· Funding model: The Colorado legislature is currently evaluating a new higher education funding model put forth by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education that pins the state's investment to performance outcomes reflecting the state's key goals, along with role and mission and student enrollment.

· Concurrent enrollment: One of five Colorado seniors is enrolled in concurrent -- or dual -- enrollment courses, making Colorado one of the leading states for this sort of program. These college-level courses are offered at no cost to students and are credit-bearing. In many Colorado schools, it is possible to earn an associate's degree while still in high school.

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