Gov. Jared Polis has signed an executive order directing state agencies to work with the Department of Education to increase Colorado students’ access to postsecondary education and training opportunities.

“Colorado is a national leader in helping students and workers develop needed skills to enter the job market with credentials and build a successful career,” Polis said. “We’ve broken down barriers to apprenticeships, made it free to attend community college for in-demand credentials, and created new ways to help Coloradans succeed. This Executive Order builds on that work by ensuring our state meets learners and earners where they are and helps Coloradans get a meaningful job. We’re asking how our state agencies and operations can better support Coloradans throughout successful lives and careers.”

The executive order directs the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, the Colorado Department of Higher Education, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, and the Office of Economic Development and International Trade to collaborate with the Governor’s Office to develop recommendations to “identify common principles of the reimagined primary and postsecondary talent development system” and develop a plan to:

• Integrate postsecondary education, skills attainment, and training strategies to improve the “flexibility and permeability” of the state’s education system
• “Future-proof” talent development by looking into strategies to help Colorado’s postsecondary and workforce development strategies adapt with the times
• Improve the ability for students, employers, communities and state agencies to navigate the postsecondary talent development system
• Increase postsecondary credential attainment, especially for students who have historically not attended postsecondary education or training within six years of high school graduation
• Reduce “bureaucratic barriers” to cross-functional education and training

The agencies are required to report their recommendations to the Governor by Dec. 1. 

The order builds upon the work of the Student Success and Workforce Revitalization Task Force, which was created in 2021 using funds from the American Rescue Plan. According to Polis’s order, the Task Force recommended building a “learner-centered talent ecosystem, ensuring better results from targeted increases in state education and training investments, and ensuring a flexible and adaptive talent development system.”

“To build on the vision for a learner-centered talent ecosystem, we must continue to close the gaps between academic and occupational education and training,” the orders states. “State postsecondary education and training efforts must meet learners where they are and serve them dynamically to continue to meet the workforce demands of Colorado’s growing economy.”

Read the full executive order here.