A New Statewide Tool Will Help Students Understand Credit Transfer in Colorado
New statewide platform will clarify how courses, exams, and work experience count toward degrees, removing barriers for learners and strengthening Colorado’s workforce.
2025 Legislative Spotlight Series: Highlighting key education and workforce policies passed this session
Navigating credit transfers is one of the biggest roadblocks Colorado students face. When credits don’t transfer as expected, it costs learners time and money, and delays their entry into the workforce. With 90% of Colorado’s top jobs now requiring some type of postsecondary education or training, these delays hurt both students and employers needing skilled talent.
HB25-1038 directs the Colorado Department of Higher Education to develop and maintain a public, online platform that provides clear, accessible information about how academic credits transfer across Colorado’s public colleges and universities.
This initiative complements Colorado’s investments in concurrent enrollment and career-ready programs. By making credit transfers transparent, the state is:
- Creating smoother pathways from classroom to career
- Reducing unnecessary costs for students
- Helping businesses find qualified workers faster
What This Legislation Does
Once developed, the new tool will help current and prospective students better understand how the courses they have taken, the exams they have passed, and the real-world experience they have gained can count toward a postsecondary credential. This is an important step toward helping students save time, reduce cost, and stay on track to complete their degrees.
The platform will serve as a centralized resource to help students, especially transfer students and adult learners, plan their postsecondary journeys more clearly and confidently. It will show learners exactly how credits transfer across all public colleges and universities, and provide students with:
- A comprehensive record of recent credit transfer decisions from Colorado’s public colleges and universities
- Details on how credits from other institutions, standardized tests (such as AP, CLEP, or IB), and prior learning or work-based experiences are applied toward degree programs
- Clear listings of courses in the guaranteed transfer (GT) pathway matrix and other statewide transfer agreements
Why This Matters
Each year, Colorado students lose valuable time and resources when credits fail to transfer as expected, creating unnecessary barriers to degree completion. This legislation builds on critical legislation passed last year, Higher Education Transparency (SB24-164), that created new protections for students by ensuring they will hear about whether their credits will transfer within 30 days of enrolling in college.
This new legislation directly addresses the continued transfer challenge by establishing a transparent website, empowering students with clear information about how prior coursework, exams, and experiential learning will be recognized–whether they’re first-time enrollees, returning adults, or transferring between schools.
When we remove barriers, we improve student outcomes, and help create a more efficient, learner-centered higher education system that benefits both individuals and Colorado’s workforce as a whole.
2025 Legislative Spotlight Series: Highlighting key education and workforce policies passed this session
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