Prospective Grantees

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Colorado Adult High School Program

The Colorado Adult High School Grant Program was created under SB 23-003 and provides state funds to create a pathway for Coloradans who are 21 years of age or older and do not have a high school diploma to attend high school and earn a diploma at no cost. Students may also earn industry-recognized certificates, career and technical education certificates, or college credits at no cost through the program. The act requires CDE to award a grant to a Colorado community-based nonprofit organization to operate the program as an education provider. The education provider is required to meet requirements outlined in the act when offering the Adult High School Program.

CDE will be conducting a grant application process for this award between September - November 2023. Key dates within that timeline are listed below as well as application materials.

• Release Date: Friday, September 15, 2023
• Technical Assistance Webinar: Monday, September 25, 2023 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. (MT) (webinar link)
  • Recording: Click here
  • Presentation: Download the slides (pdf)
• Grant Application Q&A:
  • ​​Submit questions about the grant application to the AEI Office here.
  • View responses to questions submitted to the AEI Office about the grant application here.
• Application Due: Friday, October 20, 2023
• Applications Reviewed: October 20, 2023 – October 31, 2023
• Anticipated Notification of Award Status: Wednesday, November 1, 2023
• State Board of Education Approval: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
• Application Materials:
  • ​Request for Applications Updated 9-26-23
  • Part A: Cover Page - Applicant Information
  • Part B: Partnerships for Industry-Recognized Certificates and College Credits
  • Part C: General Program Assurances Form
  • Part D: RFA Financial Management Risk Assessment Updated 9-26-23
  • Part E: Records Management 
  • Appendix E COAHS Budget Template

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Adult Education and Family Literacy Act

AELA Request for Applications

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Office of Adult Education Initiatives (AEI) solicited applications from eligible adult education providers that provide 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. This grant cohort is funded with federal State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to specifically serve adults disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Approximately $650,000 is estimated to be available for the 2022-2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023). CDE anticipates awarding $50,000 - $100,000 each to 2 – 7 grantees for a three-year period, subject to annual renewal. Funding in subsequent years for grantees is contingent upon continued appropriations and upon grantees meeting all grant, fiscal and reporting requirements. Grants are subject to annual renewal by the State Board.

Timeline

• Release Date: Friday, January 14, 2022
• Technical Assistance Webinar: Friday, January 21, 2022 from 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. MT
  • Technical Assistance Webinar
    • Recording Passcode: 79mkri&h
    • Presentation (PDF)
• Letter of Intent Due: Friday, January 28, 2022 
  • Applications must be submitted via Syncplicity, an online platform used for secure file sharing. The Letter of Intent will be used to provide contacts with access to Syncplicity
  • Letters of Intent must be submitted, at latest, by Thursday, March 10, 2022 to allow time for the creation of an application submission Syncplicity folder
• Application Due: Friday, March 11, 2022 by 11:59 p.m. MT
• Applications Reviewed: Wednesday, March 16 - Wednesday, April 6, 2022
• Anticipated State Board of Education Vote: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
• Anticipated Notification of Award Status: Week of May 16, 2022

 

Application Materials

 

Resources

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.

The following organizations are current AELA grantees:

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. Approximately half of the funds will be used to fully fund existing AELA grantees through the current grant cycle that ends June 30, 2025, as there was $1.4 million per year requested by fundable applicants in the most recent grant competition. The other half of the one-time federal funds will be used for an additional cohort of AELA grantees. That grant cycle is expected to be January 2021 - June 2025. The CDE Office of Adult Education Initiatives expects to release an additional Request for Applications utilizing the federal American Rescue Plan Act funds. 

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