In The NoCo

What's behind Colorado’s surge in college enrollment? The pandemic, some strategic programs and Deion Sanders

By In The NoCo,

Published October 1, 2024 at 5:40 AM MDT

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Courtesy of Dr Angie Paccione

College enrollment is up for the fall of 2024. Dr Angie Paccione attributes that to programs that focus on getting resources to lower income students as well as new appeal that colleges have to students of color.

More students in Colorado are headed to college. And enrollment numbers at Colorado colleges are climbing faster than predicted.

At the University of Colorado, for example, enrollment grew by 3.5 percent this school year – that's substantially more than the 0.5 percent increase the school’s officials had expected.

So, what’s behind the increase? And how is it changing who’s attending college in Colorado? Spoiler alert: It might involve CU Boulder football coach Deion Sanders.

For answers, host Erin O’Toole checked in with Dr Angie Paccione – Executive Director of Colorado’s Department of Higher Education.

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In The NoCo

KUNC's In The NoCo is a daily slice of stories, news, people and issues. It's a window to the communities along the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The show brings context and insight to the stories of the day, often elevating unheard voices in the process. And because life in Northern Colorado is a balance of work and play, we celebrate the lighter side of things here, too.

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Ariel Lavery

Ariel Lavery grew up in Louisville, Colorado and has returned to the Front Range after spending over 25 years moving around the country. She co-created the podcast Middle of Everywhere for WKMS, Murray State University’s NPR member station, and won Public Media Journalism awards in every season she produced for Middle of Everywhere. Her most recent series project is "The Burn Scar", published with The Modern West podcast. In it, she chronicles two years of her family’s financial and emotional struggle following the loss of her childhood home in the Marshall Fire.

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Erin O'Toole

As the host of KUNC’s new program and podcast In the NoCo, I work closely with our producers and reporters to bring context and diverse perspectives to the important issues of the day. Northern Colorado is such a diverse and growing region, brimming with history, culture, music, education, civic engagement, and amazing outdoor recreation. I love finding the stories and voices that reflect what makes NoCo such an extraordinary place to live.

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