COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) is revision a strategic plan for community colleges across Colorado through the 2030 school year.
Leaders from the CCCS were in Colorado Springs Tuesday at one of the many sessions that seek to identify the needs and priorities Colorado Community Colleges will take through 2030.
“Listening and learning across our state will lay a new foundation for the future of our community colleges,” said Dr. Landon Mascareñaz, chair of the SBCCOE that oversees CCCS. “This 2030 strategic plan must belong to the entire state of Colorado in order to seize the tremendous momentum we see growing in every community. We will need all voices—learners, faculty, business, K-12, and so many other partners—to join us in building the next generation of our system with economic mobility as our north star.”
CCCS includes 13 colleges with over 35 locations across the state that serve around 114,000 students each year. CCCS will be working with the Keystone Policy Center to develop the new plan and goals through listening sessions.
"When Covid hit, community colleges were hit really hard. We lost a lot of enrollment. We had a lot of turnover. People lost jobs. It was a very, very challenging time for us," said the President of Pikes Peak State College Dr. Lance Bolton.
He believes that these listening sessions will produce great results for the next 5 years. Some of his priorities are keeping affordability and expanding a "shorter longer" strategy.
"We're getting shorter and doing more and more certificates, more and more direct into the workforce opportunities for people. And we're getting longer by offering bachelor's degrees that are more affordable," he said.
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