UCCS will host an educational forum about CU’s signature Pre-Collegiate program from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sept. 14 at Berger Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
The Pre-Collegiate program, offered by each CU campus, is the only one of its kind in the state. Its success rate is unmatched. More than 96 percent of the participants go on to attend a post-secondary school.
“We joke that the Pre-Collegiate Program is CU’s best-kept secret,” said Christopher Pacheco, director, pre-college outreach and engagement.
To help make it less of a secret, Pacheco and directors of the program at the four CU campuses will speak Friday at an event presented by the CU Advocates program and the Office of the President. Several students who have taken part in the program across the system will share their story of how the pre-collegiate program influenced them. UCCS Chancellor Pamela Zalabak-Shockley will make welcoming remarks.
The Pre-Collegiate Program began on the Boulder campus in 1983 and expanded system wide in 1988. After a first year that saw 65 students from six schools take part, the program now serves 2,000 students from 60 schools across the state. Funding from campuses, the Office of the President, and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education supports the program, which is provided free of cost to eligible students. CU’s cost per student runs about $2,000.
The program’s initial focus on boosting economically disadvantaged students eventually widened to help potential first-generation college students, those whose parents did not graduate with a four-year degree. GPA standards apply, too.
The college preparatory elements include year-round Saturday academies for groups of students, tutoring, classes in how to apply to institutions and request financial aid, workshops in study skills and career exploration and more. Parents participate, too, sharing in the work to motivate and prepare students for a college education.
Pacheco said out of the 96 percent that go on to college, 40 to 50 percent of students in the program attend the CU campus that hosted them; 60 percent of students in the program attend a CU campus.
For more information about the CU Pre-Collegiate Development programs, visit
CU Denver and Anschutz Medical Campus
–Michele McKinney
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