麻豆传媒

The University of Northern Colorado (麻豆传媒) was selected in a highly competitive grant process, as a recipient of a $850,000  (COSI) grant. The funding will provide new career paths for workers displaced by the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic while also addressing the need for teachers in Colorado鈥檚 classrooms. 

As the state-designated teacher preparation college for Colorado, 麻豆传媒 is uniquely positioned to focus on strengthening Colorado鈥檚 teaching workforce, a sector that was already experiencing shortages before the pandemic. 

The university will use the funding, which includes $600,000 in financial support for students, $225,000 for 鈥渨rap-around鈥� student support services, and $25,000 for outreach and recruitment efforts, to expand their innovative Center for Urban Education (CUE) program. 

CUE provides on-ramps to teaching careers for non-traditional students with a hybrid model, which splits each student鈥檚 day between real-world clinical experience in Denver schools in the morning, and bachelor鈥檚 level coursework at the Denver Lowry Center in the afternoon.  

As a result, CUE鈥檚 students鈥嗏�斺�唌ore than 70% of whom are people of color, and 94% of whom are first-generation college students鈥嗏�斺�唚ill have spent more than 3,000 hours in the classroom by the time they graduate. The state鈥檚 requirement for an education degree is just 800 hours. It鈥檚 a program that works: 80% of students complete a teaching credential within two years of enrollment and 99% are placed in a job upon graduation, primarily within Colorado. 

The Back to Work grant will make it possible for CUE to amplify its efforts to address not only the shortage of teachers in the state, but also the shortage of teachers of color in Colorado鈥檚 diverse classrooms. Almost half of Colorado鈥檚 students are students of color, only about 10% of Colorado鈥檚 teachers are teachers of color. In Denver Public Schools, 75% of students identify as students of color and only 27% are teachers of color. 

The grant will be awarded over three years and aims to see 225 students complete their degrees. 

鈥淭he COSI Back to Work grant will provide the CUE with substantial resources to increase the number of teacher candidates served. The CUE works closely with school district leaders and school principals to produce teacher candidates who are confident and competent in urban classrooms,鈥� CUE Director Roseann Fulton says.  

To learn more about the Center of Urban Education and the COSI Back to Work Scholarships, contact Fulton at rosanne.fulton@unco.edu or call (303) 637-4334.