Gov. Ritter, Lawmakers Introduce Colorado Ascent Bill

Press Release

GOV. RITTER, LAWMAKERS INTRODUCE COLORADO ASCENT BILL

Gov. Bill Ritter, legislative leaders and education advocates today introduced Colorado ASCENT, new bipartisan legislation that will allow high school students statewide to earn a diploma while simultaneously completing a college associate's degree.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Suzanne Williams and Reps. Mike Merrifield and Tom Massey, establishes a statewide concurrent-enrollment plan that gives high school students an opportunity to earn a college degree while finishing high school.

"This legislation will be a key addition to Colorado's nationally recognized education reform efforts," Gov. Ritter said. "This is an efficient student-centered concept that will give kids a reason to stay in school and accelerate their progress toward degrees and workforce-readiness. It will ensure we continue to have one of the best-educated workforces in the country, which will be crucial to leading Colorado forward out of the recession and back onto a path toward sustainable prosperity for all."

Colorado ASCENT -- Accelerating Students through Concurrent ENrollmenT -- was recommended by the Governor's P-20 Education Council, which is co-chaired by Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien, business leader Michael Gass, and CSU Pueblo President Joe Garcia. It will build on the bipartisan Senate Bill 07-148 (Fast College/Fast Jobs) by providing a single, uniform statewide plan that will replace the different plans now in place in districts around the state.

"We're providing every high school student in Colorado a chance to go on to college," said Rep. Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs. "This is an investment opportunity for our state. With this investment, we can ensure that our kids will be able to reach their maximum potential and that we can offer them a prosperous future."

"This is the single most important piece of education legislation of the session," said Rep. Massey, R-Poncha Springs. "As a member of the P-20 Council's subcommittee on Preparation and Transition, I understand the importance of concurrent enrollment and how, in this bill, it ties together all of the pertinent reforms we are attempting to put in place in Colorado."

"Too many Colorado students are dropping out and too few are pursuing degrees," said Sen. Williams, D-Aurora. "The ASCENT program will make sure Colorado's workforce is as strong and bright as Colorado's students. We need to ensure that our high school students also become our college graduates."

Colorado ASCENT Fact Sheet

Concurrent enrollment programs have existed for many years, but with little state coordination, limited attention to quality and cross-system coherence, and little accountability. As a result, access to high-quality concurrent enrollment programs has been unnecessarily constrained.

Nonetheless, there is wide agreement that concurrent enrollment programs have the potential to create positive financial efficiencies, fulfill Gov. Ritter's goals of doubling the number of degrees and certificates earned by Coloradans and halving the high school dropout rate, and advancing the vision for an aligned system of high school and college standards and assessments articulated in the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids (CAP4K).

In following much of the P-20 Education Council's recommendation on the topic, the Colorado ASCENT proposal attempts to chart a new mission for concurrent enrollment programs by serving a wider range of students, particularly those that represent communities with historically low college participation rates. Colorado ASCENT also sets high expectations for all students and will provide the access and support to school districts necessary to increase the rigor of high school diplomas throughout the state.

To accomplish this, the Colorado ASCENT bill:

* Leaves current programs unchanged through 2012 but consolidates existing concurrent enrollment policies into one uniform, comprehensive statute.
* In light of serious budgetary constraints, improves funding mechanisms where appropriate to ensure fiscal solvency while improving access.
* Expands eligibility to students enrolled in Career and Technical Education and to 12th-gradres enrolled in remedial courses.
* Creates the ASCENT (Accelerating Students through Concurrent ENrollmenT) dual-degree or "5th year" program.
* Establishes improved data collection procedures that provide accurate and transparent information on enrollment, progress, costs and outcomes.
* Establishes common standards for enrollment, data, governance and finance.
* Opens enrollment to all academically eligible students and removes arbitrary enrollment restrictions based on age or grade.
* Creates a nine-person advisory council with multiple K-12 and higher education stakeholders to oversee the development and improvement of concurrent enrollment programs.

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