COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — Educators and policymakers in Colorado are working to lower financial barriers to higher education by expanding a program that lets students enroll in their first year of college for free.
Under the ASCENT program, local school districts pay for a student's first year of college thanks to concurrent enrollment agreements that they have with state and community colleges.
While the program has been part of state law for nearly 15 years, very few students used it because enrollment was capped at 500. The Public School Finance Act passed in May eliminated that cap.
To qualify, a student must complete a minimum of 9 college credit hours before they graduate from high school.
"This is a fantastic opportunity, particularly for middle-income families who don't necessarily qualify for federal financial aid, but may not have seen college as an affordable option," said Chelsy Harris, Associate Vice President of Strategic Partnerships with Pikes Peak State College.
Alexandra Mascotti, a culinary arts student at PPSC, has her tuition paid for this year thanks to ASCENT.
"My family is on the lower income side of things and they couldn't really afford to put me into college."
Mascotti dreams of one day opening a cafe and bakery. She began her studies at PPSC last year as a senior at Falcon High School. She said her chef instructor at PPSC encouraged her to apply for ASCENT.
"I think without the ASCENT program, I wouldn't be in the place that I am today," she said.
Duane Roberson, the Career and Technical Education Director for Colorado Springs School District 11, explained that ASCENT is meant to encourage high school students who may be on the fence about going to college to take the plunge.
"Parents want to know, is it real," Roberson joked. "Am I really not paying for it, because it sounds like a free lunch, right?"
He said D-11 has set a moonshot goal of enrolling hundreds of additional students in ASCENT next year.
"The clear message from the legislation is that we need an educated workforce, we need a certified workforce and we need it now. And if we don’t make moonshots, we’re failing the community.”
ASCENT is just one pathway open to Colorado students for free college. Roughly 53,000 students statewide participated in concurrent enrollment or dual enrollment programs during the 20219-2020 school year. Those students earned college credits, degrees, and certificates while enrolled in high school.
Under concurrent enrollment, school districts pay for a student's tuition at a state or community college. The tuition rates are much lower than if a student were to enroll on their own thanks to a negotiated memorandum of understanding between the schools and the colleges.
Pikes Peak State College has MOUs with all 88 high schools in the Pikes Peak Region.
Kristen Miller, the Concurrent Enrollment Coordinator at D-11, explained that taking a college course while in high school can build a student's self-confidence.
"It's dominoes, right," she said. "We've just gotten started and they want to take a second course and a third course."
She said many students will start to speak in college terms asking about course transferability, certificate programs, and degree tracks.
At Odyssey Early College on the Wasson Campus, the entire student body is earning college credit during their high school years under the umbrella of concurrent enrollment. The majority of faculty here are adjunct professors at either Pikes Peak State College or Colorado State University-Pueblo.
All Odyssey graduates will earn either an associate degree or have accumulated 60 credit hours of college courses by the end of 12th grade. Some ambitious students have even finished with a bachelor's degree.
"Those students, obviously, are working hand-in-hand to graduate, sometimes with an associates degree before they walk across that high school stage," Miller said.
ASCENT also utilizes concurrent enrollment to pay for tuition. School districts simply list a first-year college student on their enrollment as a fifth-year high school student.
Mascotti wished she knew about the ASCENT earlier. Now that it is expanding, she's encouraging her younger brother to look into it as well.
"It's not talked about as much as I wish it was because again, I didn't even know about it until my chef in college told me about it."
Administrators encourage parents to contact their student's counselor to learn more.
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