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.

Fact Sheet

Concurrent Enrollment Fact Sheet (2017-18)
- Concurrent Enrollment Map (2017-18)

Annual Report on Dual and Concurrent Enrollment

CDE collaborated with the Department of Higher Education to release the Annual Report on Dual and Concurrent Enrollment in Colorado with new data highlighting the enrollment and outcomes of Concurrent Enrollment students in the 2019-2020 school year.

Highlights include:

Concurrent Enrollment continues to see sustained increases in participation, with an annual growth rate of 16% percent statewide with 40,098 students participating in 2019-20.
Statewide, 98 percent of school districts and 91 percent of high schools offer Concurrent Enrollment programs.
Compared to the previous year, participation in Concurrent Enrollment increased 15.8% among American Indian or Alaska Native students, 27 percent among Asian students, 23.3 percent among African American students, 32.9% among Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, 18.4 percent among Hispanic students, 18.6 percent among White, non-Hispanic students and 19.9 percent among students identifying as more than one race.
High school students attempted a total of 340,181 Concurrent Enrollment credit hours with nearly 93 percent of all hours passed.
64 percent of Concurrent Enrollment students were enrolled in a credential-seeking program.
Through Concurrent Enrollment or ASCENT programs, 2,877 students earned some type of postsecondary credential in 2019-20 while still in high school. This is a nearly 8% decrease over last year’s total high school credential completion number (3,116). Credential completion increased among all credential types except less than 1-year certificates. Since this year’s report includes data from Spring 2020, impacts of COVID-19 and the disruption of the academic year could contribute to this drop.

Annual Concurrent Enrollment Reports Archives

COVID 19 and Concurrent Enrollment

As local education providers (LEPs) consider Concurrent Enrollment and higher education admissions for students in these exceptional times, the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) and Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) provide this resource to support the local decision-making process.

Concurrent Enrollment FAQs

Contact

Michelle Romero
Phone: 303-866-6609
E-mail: romero_m@cde.state.co.us

STAY INFORMED: Visit CDE’s COVID-19 Resources for Schools page