Colorado

Overview

Colorado ranks in the top five states in degree attainment and percentage of workers in high-tech fields, due in part to high migration of college-educated individuals. Also, a concentration of jobs in STEM and health science fields produces competitive wages for college graduates. However, the state faces several challenges. A large percentage of college-educated adults is nearing retirement and the attainment gaps between younger and older adults and between minority and white adults remains high. Meanwhile, funding for higher education has remained static or declined in recent years. Lawmakers have responded through financial aid policies, P-20 alignment initiatives and various task forces to improve student success, but they must find additional ways to leverage state resources and strategies to meet workforce demands.

Data

How does Colorado rank compared to the national average?

Adults 25-64 with college degrees: 3rd (45.8% vs. 38%)
High school graduates going directly to college: 27th (62.6% vs. 63.3%)
25-49 year-olds enrolled in college: 3rd (9.0% vs. 7.0%)
Undergraduate awards per 100 FTE undergraduates: 13th (20.9 vs. 19%)
STEM credentials awarded per 1,000 STEM employees: 38th (44.5 vs. 54.4%)
Workers with college degrees earning low wages: 21st (24.1 % vs. 22.9%)

For more information, please see the following documents:

Colorado Data Profile

Colorado Data PowerPoint

The college attainment rate in Colorado is substantially higher than the U.S. average, due in large part to high degree productivity rates and the annual net migration of college graduates. However, changing demographics could impact Colorado’s status as an education and economic power. Together, young adults and minorities will become a larger proportion of the labor force in the next 10-20 years. With these populations attaining degrees and certificates at significantly lower rates than the overall population, maintaining the status quo and hoping that migration will fill the gap may be unwise. Realizing this, policymakers have been active, creating Colorado’s Promise, the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K) and various task forces to explore ways of improving student success.

Policies

Boosting College Completion has produced a comprehensive 50-state legislative database related to college completion and workforce development. The database will grow as we continue to collect and analyze policies.

Highlights of Colorado’s policies:

Creating the Task Force on Student Academic Success – S.B. 111 (2011)
Involving the State Master Plan for Higher Education – S.B. 52 (2011)
Concerning Institutional Flexibility, Student Transfer, Financial Aid — S.B. 3 (2010)
College Savings Accounts for Adult Learners – S.B. 202 (2010)
Concerning Efforts to Reduce Dropout, Remediation Rates – S.B. 212 (2008)

Check out the BCC database for a more complete summary of Colorado’s policies. Click on the Menu arrow for additional options, such as printing the summary.

Analysis

Boosting College Completion has developed a policy profile for Colorado based on an analysis of data and policies related to college completion and workforce development.

Colorado Policy Profile

Colorado is in an advantageous position, ranking in the top five states in degree attainment, percentage of workers in high-tech fields and college participation for adults age 25 to 49. Also, a concentration of jobs in STEM and health science fields produces competitive wages for college graduates. However, these education and workforce indicators mask three challenges.

The first set of challenges involves changing demographics. Over the next 15 years, a large percentage of college-educated adults will retire. Since the attainment gaps between younger and older adults and between minority and white adults are the third largest in the nation, Colorado will need to invest in postsecondary attainment for these populations to meet future workforce needs. While migration of college graduates has been steady over the last two decades, importing more skilled workers alone will not fill in these gaps.

The second challenge is funding. The state’s higher education strategic plan, The Degree Dividend, highlights the impact of funding levels on degree productivity and the need to align funding with strategic workforce goals. While Colorado Opportunity vouchers and other need-based aid could improve college affordability, the larger question is how to fund higher education in an era of static or declining state revenues.

The final challenge is how to leverage state resources and strategies to meet workforce demand. Colorado policymakers have responded by creating Colorado’s Promise, the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K) and various task forces to explore ways of improving student success. To sustain Colorado’s position among the nation’s most highly educated states, the legislature should consider:

Assessing the implications of current higher education funding levels on the attainment of state strategic goals, such as access, affordability and degree productivity
Evaluating whether policies and strategies focused on developmental education and academic transfer have led to measurable improvements in degree attainment rates and reductions in equity gaps
Developing a statewide workforce strategy that leverages high migration rates and identifies specific goals and metrics for increasing the alignment between college and careers
Connecting education and workforce data to find out what college graduates are earning, the fields they are employed in and the value of their degrees to the workforce
How to facilitate the scaling of promising institutional efforts that could accelerate learning, reduce time-to-degree and increase completion rates.