Prospective Grantees

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Office of Adult Education Initiatives (AEI) solicited applications from eligible providers within Colorado to develop, implement, and improve adult education and literacy activities within Colorado by establishing or operating programs that provide a comprehensive service model for adult education and literacy services and instruction, including programs that provide such activities concurrently.

Approximately $7.7 million is estimated to be available for adult education and literacy services under AEFLA (WIOA § 222(a)(1)) for the 2024-2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025), with funding contingent on federal appropriations. As is allowable according to WIOA § 222(a)(1), AEI will set aside 20% (roughly $1.5 million) of the available AEFLA funds (not including available Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education funds) for corrections education to provide adult education and literacy services, leaving approximately $5.1 million general AEFLA funds available for awards through the competitive grant application process in the 2024-2025 fiscal year (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025). Of this $5.1 million, approximately $1.1 million is estimated to be available specifically for Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education (IELCE) services for the 2024-2025 fiscal year (WIOA §243(a)).

CDE anticipates awarding grants for a four-year period. Funding in subsequent years for grantees is contingent upon continued federal appropriations and upon grantees meeting all grant, fiscal and reporting requirements.

Adult Education and Literacy Act (Closed)

AELA Request for Applications

SB23-007 makes available approximately $1,819,288 for the remainder of the 2023-24 fiscal year as well as an additional $1,852,124 for 2024-25. Because of the timing of the release of these funds, CDE anticipates awarding grants of approximately $3,671,412 for the remainder of the 2023-24 fiscal year and through the 2024-25 fiscal year. This award will have a grant period of January 1, 2024-June 30, 2025. Grant funds cannot be obligated nor spent prior to CDE’s approval of the grantee’s 18-month budget. Funding in subsequent years for grantees is contingent upon funding appropriations and grantees meeting all grant, fiscal and reporting requirements.

Timeline

• Release Date: Monday, Oct. 23, 2023
• Technical Assistance Webinar: Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, from 1:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. MT (Join the RFA webinar)
  • Watch the recording
  • View the presentation (pdf)
• Grant Application Q&A
  • ​Q&A form is closed.
  • View responses to questions about the grant application submitted to the AEI Office
• Application Due: Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, by 11:59 p.m. MT
• Applications Reviewed: Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 - Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 
• Anticipated Notification of Preliminary Award Status: Monday, Dec. 4, 2023
• Anticipated State Board of Education Vote: Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024

Application Submission Process

• Submit completed applications through the online application form by Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, by 11:59 p.m. MT
• Within the online application, applicants will complete Part I with their applicant information (listed as Part A below) and upload attachments as described in the Required Elements section of the RFA.
• Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. If you do not receive an email confirmation of receipt of your submission from the application system within 24 hours after the deadline, e-mail CompetitiveGrants@cde.state.co.us.
• Current AELA grantees will have an opportunity to request supplemental AELA funding once the competition closes in mid-November. At that time, AEI will let current AELA grantees know the amount of funding remaining and provide instructions for budget revision steps to request from those remaining funds. AELA grantees requesting funds in this way will not need to complete the grant application. However, there is no guarantee that additional funds will be available after the completion of the competition. Current AELA grantees interested in applying for funding through the full competition may do so but will need to complete the entire application, competing against other, non-current AELA grantees also competing for those funds. 

Application Required Elements

The state Adult Education and Literacy Act (AELA) was originally passed in 2014 and revised in 2020. This grant program provides adult education programs funding for adult basic education, adult education leading to a high school equivalency credential, English as a second language instruction, or integrated basic education and skills training as part of a workforce development partnership or education attainment partnership. CDE conducted an AELA grant application process from March – June 2021, and the current AELA grant cycle is from July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2025. HB21-1264, the Funds Workforce Development Increase Worker Skills bill, funded through the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) program, passed in June 2021 gave a one-time additional $5 million in federal American Recovery Plan Act funding to the AELA grant to provide next-level education and training to Colorado unemployed adults disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency for better employment outcomes. CDE used a portion of the SLFRF funds to supplement existing AELA-funded programs and ran a competition for the remainder of the SLFRF funds between January and March 2022. 

The following organizations are current AELA grantees:

Information about the release of Request for Applications will be shared through the CLICK Listserv. To subscribe, please email AEI@cde.state.co.us.