Update: Senate Bill 7 passed the House in a 57-8 vote on April 26. It will next be sent to Gov. Jared Polis for final consideration. 

Community colleges in Colorado may soon be able to issue high school diplomas, if a bill passed by the state Senate becomes law. 

Senate Bill 7 seeks to allow community colleges, area technical colleges and local district colleges to issue high school diplomas to students who complete the minimum high school graduation requirements of their local school districts. 

The bill would also add $2 million in annual funding to the state’s Adult Education Grant Program to help education institutions pay for the high school diploma programs – as well as require grant recipients to offer basic education in digital literacy, in addition to the already required literacy and numeracy education.

“Not everyone has the education and training they need to land a good-paying job and care for themselves and their family,” said bill sponsor Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, D-Arvada. “This legislation will help thousands of Coloradans bolster their digital skills and get the critical education they need to reach their career potential, provide for their families, and live their Colorado dream.” 

The bipartisan bill – also sponsored by Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton – received near unanimous support from the Senate. 

Senators voted, 33-2, to pass the bill on Wednesday, sending it to the House for further consideration.

Wednesday’s vote came after the bill was unanimously approved by the Senate Appropriations and Education Committees, with no witnesses testifying against the bill and no organizations registering in opposition. Nearly a dozen organizations are backing the bill, including various adult education institutions throughout the state. 

Two Republican senators voted “no” on the bill: Kevin Van Winkle and Jim Smallwood. Van Winkle of Highlands Ranch said he thinks community colleges offering high school diplomas is a “great idea,” but he opposes providing additional annual funding to the state’s Adult Education Grant Program. 

“I believe the program just received a big $5 million boost in federal dollars and now needs an additional $2 million in taxpayer dollars annually forever to issue a rather modest number of diplomas,” Van Winkle said. 

“You just don’t want people to be educated, that’s all,” Kirkmeyer said jokingly on the Senate floor. 

Around 300,000 Coloradans lack a high school credential, according to the Colorado Adult Education Coalition. 

In 2019, 53.2% of Colorado’s working-aged households without a high school credential did not earn enough income to meet their most basic needs – a percentage that increases to 73.2% for households led by women of color, according to data from the Colorado Center on Law and Policy presented by Zenzinger.

Colorado lawmakers passed House Bill 19-1236 to create the Workforce Diploma Pilot Program in 2019, allowing some community colleges to issue high school diplomas. That pilot program expired on July 1, and a bill seeking to extend the program failed last year.