In 2020, the COSI Board approved the first Finish What You Started (FWYS) program (focused on adults 25+, Adams County residents, with some college, no degree), an outcomes-based contract providing bonus payments for services that increase enrollment, persistence, and completion.
The Colorado General Assembly passed a bill in June 2021 that expanded the Finish What You Started program. With the $3.8 billion of state aid provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Governor and Colorado legislature have allocated approximately $200 million towards workforce development and education. COSI received $49 million in federal stimulus funds to expand its Finish What You Started program, focusing on providing direct and indirect support to students to individuals with some college, no degree and/or those who applied in 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 but did not attend.
These funds will support in addressing the significant decline in enrollment in the public institutions of higher education, high rate of job loss, continuing unemployment, and the overall disruption to the workforce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions have resulted in significant economic harm to individuals and businesses by quickly and effectively providing support for students to return to the public institutions of higher education to complete their postsecondary credentials and help to rebuild and revitalize the workforce of Colorado.
- Adams County Award
COSI launched the Finish What You Started-Adams County program to support adult students who have some college but no degree. In partnership with One Million Degrees, the pilot project will focus on Adams County adults (25+) who are not currently enrolled and have some college and no degree. The program targets explicitly Black/African American, Hispanic/LatinX, and Native American/American Indian adults and provides a holistic suite of wraparound support services and scholarship funds to address educational attainment equity gaps.
Finish What You Started is structured as a Pay for Success (outcomes-based contract) with upfront funding to deliver services and bonus payments tied to successful re-enrollment, persistence, and completion outcomes being reinvested into the program over time. CDHE is among the first state higher education agencies nationwide to use the PFS model to improve postsecondary attainment and mitigate equity attainment gaps by explicitly funding effective support services.
- One Million Degrees $312,500
One Million Degrees is also eligible to earn up to $200,000 in additional funds as outcomes are met. A philantropic donor provided the funds, and One Million Degrees will reinvest the funds into the program.
- Statewide Awards
With the $3.8 billion of state aid provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Governor and Colorado legislature have allocated approximately $200 million towards workforce development and education. Through HB21-1330, COSI received $49 million to expand its Finish What You Started (FWYS) program, of which $46.55 million is allocated to 31 public institutions across the state of Colorado, providing direct and indirect support to students.
These funds will support in addressing the significant decline in enrollment in the public institutions of higher education, high rate of job loss, continuing unemployment, and the overall disruption to the workforce caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions have resulted in significant economic harm to individuals and businesses by quickly and effectively providing support for students to return to the public institutions of higher education to complete their postsecondary credentials and help to rebuild and revitalize the workforce of Colorado.
- Adams State University $678,546
- Aims Community College $1,250,756
- Arapahoe Community College $1,111,149
- Colorado Mesa University $2,118,620
- Colorado Mountain College $983,643
- Colorado Northwestern Community College $246,845
- Colorado School of Mines $521,426
- Colorado State University Fort Collins $3,655,937
- Colorado State University Global $785,340
- Colorado State University Pueblo $1,015,124
- Community College of Aurora $1,318,414
- Community College of Denver $2,002,754
- Emily Griffith Technical College $875,823
- Fort Lewis College $552,344
- Front Range Community College $3,206,928
- Lamar Community College $251,898
- Metropolitan State University of Denver $5,712,650
- Morgan Community College $344,391
- Northeastern Junior College $353,211
- Otero College $422,134
- Pickens Technical College $626,982
- Pikes Peak Community College $3,728,872
- Pueblo Community College $1,430,926
- Red Rocks Community College $1,328,254
- Technical College of the Rockies $194,590
- Trinidad State College $567,165
- University of Colorado Boulder $3,122,075
- University of Colorado Colorado Springs $2,398,588
- University of Colorado Denver $3,205,271
- University of Northern Colorado $2,024,812
- Western Colorado University $530,269
- Statewide Learning Community
COSI has partnered with One Million Degrees to convene institution leaders and practitioners to participate in a Statewide Learning Community to advance high-quality statewide implementation of Finish What You Started programming through peer learning and best practice sharing around data analysis, program design, student engagement, continuous progress monitoring, and evaluation design.
The Statewide Learning Community will share, reflect on, and strategize around real-time learnings, successes, and challenges as higher education institutions across the state seek to reach and engage the target student populations.- Marketing and Communication Materials
Use this link to connect to co-branded marketing materials and social media templates to help promote your program
- Annual Reporting
Annual Reports
Grantee must submit a performance report to CDHE following COSI’s reporting schedule as outlined here:
- August 1, 2022 - to include all terms between summer 2021 to spring 2022
- August 1, 2023 - to include all terms between summer 2022 to spring 2023
- August 1, 2024 - to include all terms between summer 2023 to spring 2024
- August 1, 2025 - to include all terms between summer 2024 to spring 2025
- August 1, 2026 - to include all terms between summer 2025 to spring 2026
All reports must be submitted in the COSI Reporting Portal which opens on May 1, 2024. You can find instructions on our reporting resources folder in the google drive.
Resources for 2024 reporting including instructions and templates are available on the google drive. Please review the COSI Reporting Policy for information on reporting requirements.
2024 FWYS Annual Reporting Support Sessions Date Event Details Wednesday, July 10
11:00 am
Zoom Thursday, July 25
1:00 pm
Zoom - COSI Point of Contact
Kolby Knupp
COSI Program Manager