Colorado college guarantees admission to students who want to become teachers

The University of Colorado Boulder’s School of Education will guarantee admission to high schoolers that want to become teachers or community leaders, through a new agreement between CU Boulder and two high school programs.

CU Boulder announced the guaranteed enrollment for the 2018-19 academic school year Thursday. Students need to meet requirements to be guaranteed admission.

The student must be enrolled in either the Teacher Cadet or Pathways2Teaching program and be in good standing within the program.

School districts where the programs are available: Academy School District 20 Adams 14 Aurora Public Schools Boulder Valley School District Cañon City School District Cherry Creek School District Colorado Springs School District 11 Denver Public Schools District 49 Douglas County School District Elizabeth School District Fountain-Fort Carson School District 8 Haxtun RE-2J School District Jefferson County Public Schools Lamar Re-2 School District Littleton Public Schools Morgan County School District Re-3 Poudre School District School District 27J Weld County School District 6 Weld RE-4 School District Widefield School District 3

To qualify, students must also:

Meet both the Colorado Commission on Higher Education’s admissions requirements and the university’s minimum academic preparation standard curriculum Maintain a B- or higher in Teacher Cadet or Pathways2Teaching courses Have a weighted high school grade point average of 3.0 or higher Earn an ACT composite score of 22 or higher or SAT score of 1110 or higher. Complete the CU Boulder application process by Jan. 15

The guaranteed admission agreement comes at a time of national teacher shortages, particularly in rural areas and among teachers of color, according to recent reports from Colorado Department of Higher Education in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Education.