Concurrent Enrollment in Colorado: the law behind it

The statute

C.R.S. § 22-35-101 et seq.

Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act . Article 35 of title 22, as enacted in 2009.

The act that replaced Colorado’s patchwork of local arrangements with one statewide program. It puts concurrent enrollment inside a student’s academic plan, makes the school district responsible for tuition rather than the family, and creates ASCENT, the fifth year of high school in which a student continues taking college courses. The General Assembly publishes the act as passed; Colorado’s codified statutes are not free on a state domain, so the session law is the official text a family can open.

The administrative rule

1 CCR 301-86

Rules for the Administration of the Concurrent Enrollment Program .

The State Board of Education rule that tells schools and districts how to report a concurrent enrollment student, written under the act and under the board’s general authority. It also carries limits a family can run into: the program is open to students in grades nine through twelve who have academic plan approval and meet the deadlines and the college’s course requirements, and a twelfth grader held back for instructional purposes may not enroll in more than nine credit hours for the academic year.

Agency guidance

CDHE concurrent and dual enrollment

Colorado Department of Higher Education, concurrent and dual enrollment .

The higher education department’s summary of eligibility and who pays, and the place to check which programs in Colorado are concurrent enrollment under the act and which are something else a college markets alongside it. The distinction matters, because the tuition obligation on the district applies to the program in the act.

CDE concurrent enrollment option

Colorado Department of Education, concurrent enrollment .

The K-12 department’s page on what the district covers and what it does not. Textbooks, fees, and transportation are treated here, and the answers are not the same as the tuition answer, which is the most common surprise for a family that has been told the program is free.

ASCENT frequently asked questions

Colorado Department of Education, ASCENT FAQs .

The fifth-year program in detail: who may apply, what the district keeps paying for, and how the year is counted for high school and college purposes. A family weighing whether a student should graduate on time or take the fifth year is weighing the rules on this page.

Who administers it

These are the offices that answer a question about Colorado law rather than about one school or one campus. A district and a college can both be wrong about a state rule, and these pages are where the state's own position is published.

• Colorado Department of Higher Education · Oversees the college side of concurrent enrollment statewide.
• Colorado Department of Education · Administers the school district side, ASCENT, and the reporting rule.
• Colorado Secretary of State, Code of Colorado Regulations · Where 1 CCR 301-86 is published in its current form.

Frequently asked

Who pays tuition for a Colorado concurrent enrollment course?

The school district, under the act. What the district does not automatically cover is textbooks, fees, and transportation, which the Department of Education page treats separately.

What is ASCENT?

A fifth year of high school created by the same act, in which a student keeps taking college courses with the district still involved. The Department of Education publishes the eligibility and cost answers.

Why is the statute a session law rather than a code section?

Colorado hosts its codified statutes through a commercial service rather than on a state domain. The General Assembly publishes the act as passed, which is the official text available without a subscription.

Does a student need an academic plan?

Yes. The rule conditions participation on academic plan approval along with the application deadlines and the college’s own course requirements.