How does a person in Colorado pay for college to become a teacher?

Options for High School Students:

• High School Concurrent Enrollment: up to 60 credit hours FREE
• TREP (Teacher Recruitment Education and Preparation): up to 2 years of college FREE
• ASCENT (Accelerating Students through Concurrent Enrollment): June 30, 2026: up to 39 credit hours FREE

Options for College and University Students

• Earn money by serving as a paraprofessional and/or substitute teacher
  • Colorado substitutes make an average of $25.50 per hour (Indeed)
  • Colorado paraprofessionals make an average of $20.49 per hour (Indeed)
• Career Advance Colorado: consult with your community college to receive up to 60 credit hours FREE
• Colorado Promise: Students who attend Colorado public institutions of higher education with family incomes of $90,000 or less are eligible for COMPLETE REIMBURSEMENT of any out-of-pocket tuition and fees they pay.
• Colorado College Opportunity Fund: $116 per credit hour (public colleges) and $58 per credit hour (private colleges)
• Pell Grant: For the 2025-26 award year, the maximum Pell Grant through FAFSA award is $7,395
• CDE ERR (Colorado Department of Education Educator Recruitment and Retention): up to $10,000
• Colorado Center for Rural Education Student Teaching Stipend: $4,000
• CDHE (Colorado Department of Higher Education) Rural Teaching Fellowship: up to $10,000
• CDHE Educator Loan Forgiveness: up to $5,000 in loan forgiveness annually
• Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) and local Colorado Workforce Centers: Free or supplemental educational opportunities
• USDOE TEACH Grant (Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education): up to $4,000
• Serve Colorado: variable living stipends
• TEACH Colorado: variable scholarships and application fee reimbursements

For more questions:

please contact robert.fulton@unco.edu