By Scott Laband

Colorado has earned the right to celebrate its new No. 1 ranking in education from U.S. News & World Report.

Gov. Jared Polis called it “one of the proudest moments” of his time in office and shared the credit with education leaders, teachers, parents, communities and students. He is right to recognize the work behind the headline. Expanding preschool access, improving completion and building stronger pathways through education do not happen by accident.

Yet, the ranking also gives Colorado an opportunity to ask a more demanding question: what would it take to turn a first-place ranking into a first-rate experience for every Colorado learner?

Colorado’s result was driven by increased preschool enrollment and gains in associate-degree completion and attainment.

Colorado’s universal preschool program enrolled 58,107 children in 2024-25, according to the National Institute for Early Education Research. The state ranked third nationally in access for 4-year-olds and fifth for 3-year-olds. Colorado also reached a four-year high school graduation rate of 85.6%, the highest in more than a decade, while the dropout rate fell to 1.6%, the lowest in state history.

These numbers represent thousands of children gaining access to early learning and thousands of young people leaving high school with more options. Still, access and completion are not the whole story.

NIEER found Colorado met only two of its 10 preschool quality benchmarks in 2024-25, while noting the new program may meet more as its standards are fully implemented. That is not an argument against universal preschool. It is a reminder the next phase must focus as intensely on quality as the first phase focused on access.

The same tension appears in K-12 education. Colorado fourth-graders scored above the national average in reading on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Yet only 36% performed at or above NAEP Proficient. Economically disadvantaged fourth-graders scored 33 points below their more affluent peers, and only 19% reached proficiency.

Colorado can compare favorably with other states and still be far from where its students need it to be.

Higher education presents another opportunity. More students completing associate degrees is good news. Students who leave college without a credential often absorb the cost without receiving the full benefit. But not every credential carries the same value. Its worth depends on cost, time to completion, field of study, employer demand and what happens to a learner’s earnings and opportunities afterward.

Colorado has started to confront this directly. The Department of Higher Education publishes information on program costs, debt and earnings one, five and 10 years after completion. In 2024, the legislature invested in a longitudinal data system connecting early childhood, K-12, postsecondary and workforce data. The system is intended to help leaders, educators, families and students understand which pathways lead to learning, completion, employment and economic mobility.

That is an important foundation. The real test is whether Colorado uses this information to evaluate programs, direct public funding and help students choose among pathways. Completion should not be treated as the finish line, and all credentials should not be presumed equally valuable.

Colorado should distinguish between programs that add to attainment totals and those that produce measurable value for learners. Did the credential lead to a good job, greater economic security and the ability to advance? Did students who began furthest from opportunity experience the same progress?

No single ranking can answer all of those questions. The U.S. News result is real evidence Colorado has assembled strength across the education continuum. It validates years of work by people throughout the state, and it should give Colorado confidence that large systems can improve.

It should also sharpen our sense of responsibility.

A first-place ranking is most valuable when it raises expectations. Colorado should now pair preschool access with consistent quality, higher graduation rates with genuine readiness and more credentials with stronger economic returns.

Meeting those expectations means grade-level literacy, meaningful work-based learning, credentials of value, transparent outcomes and public dollars directed toward programs that work.

The governor is right this moment belongs to the people who made the progress possible. The next chapter should ensure every Colorado learner experiences the promise the ranking represents in practice.

Scott Laband is president and chief executive of Colorado Succeeds, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together leaders from business, education and government to advance education and workforce development.