To continue providing options previously unavailable, Pikes Peak State College (PPSC) has expanded its programming for local students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) through new funding.

Building on its ASPIRE Scholars program, the college was awarded a grant by the Peyton-based nonprofit organization Disabling Barriers to give eligible students the option to enroll in courses while still in high school.

The program launched in 2025 to provide IDD students with additional support to access college courses, known as inclusive higher education. PPSC is now the only college in Colorado to offer concurrent enrollment to these students.  

ASPIRE provides a higher education pathway for traditional, nontraditional and transfer students with IDD aged 18-21 in the Pikes Peak region.

In addition to accommodation, the program provides these students with modifications to their coursework to help them earn a Comprehensive Higher Education Certificate tailored to their goals and academic needs. Because PPSC is considered an off-campus college, enrolled students with IDD can still live with their families as they complete their coursework, rather than relocating to a campus like UCCS.

ASPIRE’s Program Manager Kassy Lopez said this is also a common hurdle for these students, since they have never been separated from their families or caregivers for extended periods of time previously.

“They don’t feel comfortable living out of the home yet,” Lopez said. “So, this allows them to go to college without the requirement of living on campus.”

The program was kickstarted through state grant funding, with an original three-year, $300,000 plan to develop the program. However, budget cuts to the Department of Higher Education last year eliminated this funding after the program was set in motion.

“So, what was originally going to be funding for three years got cut down to one year,” Lopez said.

This halt in funding led the school to pursue other grant opportunities to continue plans and connect with Disabling Barriers, which awards grants to organizations providing support, services and resources to people with IDD, their families and caregivers in southern Colorado.

PPSC’s total grant funding exceeds $122,000 and invests in assistive technology, student assessment and tracking-evaluation, database systems, transportation services, specialized staff training and scholarships covering program fees for all enrolled students for the 2025-26 academic year.

Potential outcomes for students, upon earning their certificates, include pursuing an associate degree, career exploration and job-skill development and internships.

“I often say they are an untapped workforce,” said Disabling Barriers Executive Director Alexis Christman. “You will not find another group that’s more motivated to work. We think it’s an incredible investment to make, so it was a no-brainer to us.” 

Inclusive Higher Ed in Colorado

Christman said past research has indicated an age-out range for students with IDD aged 18-21, where many of the services available during their public education are no longer available, which “leaves a lot of families in the lurch.”

According to IN! Pathway to Inclusive Higher Education, a Colorado nonprofit supporting students with IDD on college campuses, low societal expectations and limited opportunities have historically prevented this population from accessing a college education.

Many transition from high school to adult day programs, low-skilled and low-paying jobs or stay home with their families. Many also live below the poverty line with little prospect of surpassing it.

“They are, students with intellectual disability, an often-neglected group of the population,” Lopez said.

Recognizing these gaps, state lawmakers approved state funding to expand inclusive education over the past 10 years. Reasons why no such programming existed previously included a lack of systems in place to accommodate IDD students’ specific needs and guardian apprehension about sending them off to campus.

In 2016, Senate Bill 16-196 was passed and developed a pilot program for inclusive higher education at the University of Northern Colorado, Arapahoe Community College and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS). In 2022, House Bill 22-1107 was signed into law and created a grant program for more colleges to develop their own inclusive higher education pathways.

IN! Program Manager Shayna Laing said that, on average, an inclusive higher education program in Colorado averages $300,000 to $350,000 to begin before eventually becoming self-sustainable.

After the Colorado Department of Higher Education lost its funding for inclusive higher education as a part of statewide budget cuts announced last year, nonprofits like Disabling Barriers and IN! have taken on a greater role in funding grants for new and existing programs.

Laing said they have since begun exploring how schools with established programs can allocate their costs into their existing budgets. In addition to reapplying with Disabling Barriers, funding opportunities exist like a New and Innovative Ideas Grant through the Colorado Disability Opportunity Office.

While ASPIRE’s state funding is gone, Lopez believes there’ still potential for the program to become self-sustainable.

She said that, since the program launched, she’s received interest from students and schools across the state and is developing memorandums of understanding with multiple local school districts. The program hosted five students last fall, with a plan to add five more annually over the next four years.

The hope is that the growing enrollment, and its tuition and programming fees, will supplant the current grant funding and sustain the program going forward.

“I already have 11 applications for the fall semester and four more meetings this week for students interested,” Lopez said.

Applications for the 2026–2027 ASPIRE Scholars Program are open and will be accepted through Jan. 31. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by April 30.