Career Development Incentive Program

Colorado Career Development and Industry Credentials Communications Toolkit

Resources are available to support school and district leaders as they increase student and family access to, awareness of, and engagement in high-demand and low-supply industry credentials and opportunities that students have to prepare for earning them while in high school.

Learn more about the Career Development & Industry Credentials Communications Toolkit

The PWR of the Communications Toolkit webinar was held on May 5, 2022. View the recording here!

Description: The new Career Development and Industry Credentials Communications Toolkit, part of the Career Development Incentive Program (CDIP), contains a plethora of information on engaging students and families in career development and industry credentials, Colorado's Top 10 Industry Credentials, and integrating industry credentials in your district. Join members of the Office of Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness and partners to learn how this new toolkit can be utilized to benefit students in your district!

The PWR of Career Development Incentive Program

The Career Development Incentive Program, or Career Development Success Program Expansion in House Bill 18-1266, provides financial incentives for school districts and charter schools that encourage high school students, grades 9-12, to complete:

Tier 1: qualified industry credential programs;

Tier 2: Workplace training programs; or

Tier 3: Computer Science Advanced Placement (AP) courses.

Participating districts or charter schools could receive up to $1,000 for each completed credential, distributed in tiered order.

2021-22 Program Participation

61 school districts and nine charter schools (six in 2020-21) reported students who completed qualified industry credential programs. 22 were categorized as small rural and 13 were categorized as rural.
There was an 87% increase in programs reported from 2020-21. A total of 12,573 qualifying credentials/courses were reported. Only 9,130 in tier 1 were funded due to available appropriations.
As required by state law, Colorado Revised Statute 22-54-138, participating districts or charter schools cannot receive a distribution of more than 10% of the total number of completed industry certificates reported by districts and charter schools. Therefore, one district received funding for only 913 certificates, rather than the amount reported, thus reducing the number of credentials funded.

Quick Links!

Funding:

Year	Number of Requests	Amount Funded	Dollar Amount
2016-17	3106	1807	$1,000,000
2017-18	5777	3688	$2,000,000
2018-19	6764	5133	$4,800,000
2019-20	9110	6441	$4,279,837
2020-21	6709	6147	$6,033,028
2021-22	12,573	9130	$4,286,089
TOTAL	44,039	32,346	$22,398,954

*The Colorado Department of Education received an additional $1.5 million dollars for the 2020-2021 year.

Credential Breakdown 2021-2022

Qualified Programs	# Reported by Districts	# Funded	$ Amount Funded
Industry-Recognized Certifications	9969	9130	$4,286,089
Internships	1616	0	0
Pre-Apprenticeships	46	0	0
Apprenticeships	103	0	0
Advanced Placement Computer Science Courses	839	0	0
Total	12,573	9130	$4,286,089

Reported Demographics:

*This data is self reported by participating districts.

**Race/Ethnicity**
American Indian or Alaskan Native	43	0%
Asian	476	4%
Black or African American	244	2%
Hispanic or Latino	3,142	27%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander	23	0%
Two or More Races	761	7%
White	7,087	60%