(1)The general assembly finds that:
(a)The department is committed to improving the postsecondary and
workforce readiness options and outcomes for students across the state;
(b)Postsecondary and workforce readiness opportunities increase student
engagement, decrease dropout rates, and improve students' long-term workforce
outcomes;
(c)The Colorado evaluation and action lab, housed at the university of
Denver, found that concurrent enrollment is shown to be highly effective in
increasing college graduation for Colorado students across various demographics.
Students who participate in concurrent enrollment are twenty-five percent more
likely to attend college, are eight percent more likely to earn a two-year degree on
time, are ten percent more likely to earn a four-year degre
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(1) The general assembly finds that:
(a) The department is committed to improving the postsecondary and
workforce readiness options and outcomes for students across the state;
(b) Postsecondary and workforce readiness opportunities increase student
engagement, decrease dropout rates, and improve students' long-term workforce
outcomes;
(c) The Colorado evaluation and action lab, housed at the university of
Denver, found that concurrent enrollment is shown to be highly effective in
increasing college graduation for Colorado students across various demographics.
Students who participate in concurrent enrollment are twenty-five percent more
likely to attend college, are eight percent more likely to earn a two-year degree on
time, are ten percent more likely to earn a four-year degree on time, and earn
higher wages five years after entering the workforce. Therefore, maintaining
guaranteed transfer pathways and cooperative agreements between local
education providers and colleges is beneficial to students in Colorado and to the
state as a whole.
(d) It is the department's goal that for the high school graduating class of
2029, and for each high school graduating class thereafter, one hundred percent of
high school graduates will have achieved at least one of the following:
(I) Earned a quality, in-demand non-degree credential;
(II) Earned twelve postsecondary credits that count toward a postsecondary
credential; or
(III) Participated in at least one high-quality work-based learning
opportunity;
(e) In order to achieve the goal described in subsection (1)(d) of this section,
the secondary, postsecondary, and work-based learning integration task force
recommended streamlining postsecondary and workforce readiness programming
and funding to increase access to postsecondary credit, industry-recognized
credentials, and work-based learning, commonly referred to as the big three, by
mitigating barriers and offering programming that supports achievement in the big
three;
(f) The postsecondary and workforce readiness financial study found that
student access to existing postsecondary and workforce readiness programs is
inequitable, with only fifty-four percent of the state's one hundred seventy-eight
school districts participating in the funded programs included in the study;
(g) Student individual career and academic plans provide a process and
portfolio for students to explore their interests and various postsecondary career
and educational opportunities across the big three; and
(h) In addition to the student individual career and academic plans described
in subsection (1)(g) of this section, educators play a crucial role in helping students
meet students' postsecondary workforce and readiness goals and achieving
success in the big three.
(2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that:
(a) It is beneficial to consolidate current postsecondary and workforce
readiness programs that the department administers into three funding streams for
the purpose of building capacity to implement and expand access to valuable
postsecondary and workforce readiness programs for students;
(b) It is beneficial for local education providers to receive flexibility with
respect to their funding to establish or increase student participation in
opportunities for postsecondary credit attainment, industry-recognized credentials,
and work-based learning and to enable scaling effective and innovative practices in
the big three; and
(c) Funding recipients are encouraged to consider ways in which to
collaborate and leverage economies of scale across local education providers to
expand access for students.