Our Story

In 2019, five Southwest Colorado school districts (Archuleta, Bayfield, Durango, Ignacio, and Silverton), Pueblo Community College, and Fort Lewis College formed the Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative to expand opportunities for all students in the region. The Collaborative will strengthen existing college and career pathways, and develop new ones that are available to any student, in any district. This initiative supports school districts in developing deeper partnerships to address common challenges while allowing each district and community to retain its unique identity.

Students will benefit from dynamic and culturally responsive programming, exposure to new opportunities, targeted job training, and the opportunity to earn college credit. School districts will gain partners to share resources that are accountable to student outcomes, meets student needs and interests, and is sustainable for many years. Local employers will benefit from an increase in job-ready individuals to address workforce shortages. Higher Education will build relationships with K12 students who are more likely to enroll after experiencing campuses, faculties, and other college benefits while in high school.

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Demographic

The ~ 9,000 K-12 students and 2,785 high school students in our region are diverse and under-resourced (46% of all students experience a higher-than-average rate of poverty).

The Southwest is home to nearly 10% of the state’s Native American population, making up 11% of the region’s student population as a whole. The Collaborative shares borders with several Sovereign Tribal Nations, including the Navajo Nation, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Fort Lewis College is the most diverse public liberal arts college in the nation, serving a student body comprised of 53% students of color and over 40% Native American students (the largest percentage of Native American students served nationally by any non-tribal institution).

 

Funding

In early 2021, the Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative was established as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. In addition to providing increased capacity to implement programming and facilitate collaboration, the nonprofit will ensure representation and buy-in from key stakeholders, assess and improve programming that allows for tighter linkages between K12 and higher education, and raise additional capital.

In November 2020, the Collaborative was awarded $3.6 million to support the efforts mentioned above and build stronger educational pathways for students interested in building trades and environmental sciences.

 
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