Colorado

In April 2012, Colorado’s governor signed the state’s Senate Bill 12-045, which declared that community colleges and universities should work in collaboration with the Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CDHE) to develop a process to confer associate’s degrees earned by students on the path to a baccalaureate. The legislation stipulates that if a student completes the residency requirement at a community college (15 college credit hours from one community college), transfers to a university, and accumulates 70 credit hours (including transferred credits) at the university level, that student must be notified that they may be eligible to receive an associate’s degree from the primary, sending community college. Visit the Colorado’s reverse transfer website, “Degree Within Reach” to learn more about Colorado's reverse transfer process.

State Funder
Lumina Foundation

In March of 2014, OCCRL published a profile of each CWID state. The 2014 Colorado State Profile includes descriptions of a) the state implementation context, b) key implementation strategies, c) reverse transfer process, d) implementation successes and challenges, e) implementation successes and challenges, f) institutions participating in Credit When It's Due, and g) state contact information.

In May of 2015, OCCRL published a second profile of each CWID state.  The Colorado CWID Profile 2015 provides expands on and updates the areas covered in the 2014 profile with additional information on the sustainability of Colorado’s reverse transfer system. A total of 68 credentials were awarded as of May 2015. Key implementation strategies outlined in the profiles are below, please see the profiles for further description.

• Reverse Transfer Timeline
• Reverse Transfer Process Overview
• Reverse Transfer at Metropolitan State University of Denver
• Reverse Transfer-Related Legislation (Senate Bill 12-045)