New website helps students access 10 southern Colorado colleges

Durango, CO  –  A new website will allow southern Colorado students to learn about programs at 10 two and four-year colleges in one easy step.

The site, www.socolo-edu.org, is intended to show low- and moderate-income students that they can be the first in their families to pursue education after high school. The site was produced by the Southern Colorado Higher Education Consortium (SCHEC), a collaboration of all ten public colleges and universities in southern Colorado. A highlight of the site is a video series that use student voices to demonstrate the importance these colleges place on student success. Phillip Morris, the project coordinator, is particularly proud of the willingness of college students in Southern Colorado to show high school students the process of going to college. “These videos tell the collective story of navigating through college in Southern Colorado. The students in the videos have done a fantastic job of breaking down complexity and addressing fears about going to college”. To watch the videos go to www.socolo-edu.org/videos.html

“Higher education is, in so many ways, a gateway to a more productive and satisfying life,” says Fort Lewis College President Dene Thomas. “Beyond the benefits to individuals and families, building an educated citizenry is good for the community, state, nation and the world. We at Fort Lewis College are excited to join the Southern Colorado Higher Education Consortium to help make a college education a reality for students in southern Colorado.”

Fueled by a $750,000 Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the SCHEC is working cooperatively to increase the number of southern Colorado residents who attend college. The website will help families in southern Colorado connect with local colleges and understand requirements to enroll in post-secondary education. Unemployment rates are generally lower for people with education after high school and the Bureau of Labor predicts increased demand for employees with higher levels of education.

By fall, the group hopes to offer ten new college-level courses to students who are enrolled in high school, a feature rare in rural districts that dominate southern Colorado. The challenge of the consortium is to offer courses that are accessible, interesting, and engaging for students who have done well in high school but might not be at the top of the class. The goal of offering the new courses to high school students is to show them that they can succeed at the next level. Along with the new course offerings, each campus will offer a summer campus-based program that aims to introduce students to college expectations, campus life, and academic preparation techniques.

The graphic identity for the project, SóColo Reach, uses the Spanish concept of the Zócalo, or city plaza, combined with the southern Colorado outreach effort. The colleges represented in the SóColo Reach project include Adams State University, Colorado State University-Pueblo, Fort Lewis College, Lamar Community College, Otero Junior College, Pikes Peak Community College, Pueblo Community College, Trinidad State Junior College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and Western State Colorado University.

For more information about SóColo Reach, contact FLC Provost Barbara Morris at 970-247-7314.