Concurrent Enrollment

Overview

In May 2009, the Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 09-1319 and Senate Bill 09-285, the Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act. The act created the concurrent enrollment program, defined as the simultaneous enrollment of a qualified student in a local education provider and in one or more postsecondary courses, including academic or career and technical education courses, which may include course work related to apprenticeship programs or internship programs, at an institution of higher education. The collective intent is to broaden access to and improve the quality of concurrent enrollment programs, improve coordination between institutions of secondary education and institutions of higher education and ensure financial transparency and accountability. Beyond coordinating and clarifying the existing concurrent enrollment programs, the bills also created the “5th year” ASCENT program for students to continue participating in concurrent enrollment for one year following their 12th grade year.

Comparison Chart: Concurrent Enrollment/ASCENT/Dual Enrollment (updated July 2018)

Fact Sheet

Concurrent Enrollment Fact Sheet (2015-16)
- Concurrent Enrollment Map (2015-16)

Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment for 2016-17

In collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, CDE released the 2016-17 Concurrent Enrollment Annual Report in April, 2018 with new data highlighting the enrollment and outcomes of Concurrent Enrollment students in the 2015-2016 school year. Highlights include:

Concurrent Enrollment continued to see sustained increases in participation in 2016-17, up more than 10 percent statewide (from 2015-16) with 28,290 students participating.
Statewide, 96 percent of school districts (a 2 percentage-point increase from 2015-2016) and 86 percent of high schools (a 4 percentage-point increase from 2015-2016) offer Concurrent Enrollment programs.
Participation in Concurrent Enrollment increased 16 percent among Asian students, 8 percent among African American students, 8 percent among Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, 21 percent among Hispanic students, 6 percent among White, non-Hispanic students and 12 percent among students identifying as more than one race compared to 2015-16.
High school students attempted a total of 242,728 Concurrent Enrollment credit hours. The average number of credit hours attempted per student was 8.6 with an average of 8 hours passed (averages of 8 credit hours attempted and 7.5 credit hours passed in 2015-2016).
A large majority of the Concurrent Enrollment hours taken by students—94 percent—was passed in 2016-2017. This is a 1 percentage-point increase from 2015-16.
For the second year, more students registered for courses in a specific credential-seeking program than in non-credential seeking programs. More than 83 percent of ASCENT students were enrolled in a credential-seeking program, and more than 52 percent of Concurrent Enrollment students were enrolled in a credential-seeking program.
2,017 students earned some type of postsecondary credential in 2016-2017 while still in high school through Concurrent Enrollment or ASCENT programs. This is a 35 percent increase over the total credential-completion number of 1,491 in 2015-16.

Annual Concurrent Enrollment Reports Archives

Contact

Mary Anne Hunter
Phone: 303-866-6596
E-mail:Hunter_Mary@cde.state.co.us

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Concurrent Enrollment

Overview

Fact Sheet

Annual Report on Concurrent Enrollment for 2016-17

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