By Laura Fitzgerald, Special to The Gazette

When Samuel Clark and his wife welcomed their second child into their family, Clark’s mother-in-law moved in to take care of her grandchild. Despite their professional, full-time jobs, the cost of two kids in child care would have been unaffordable for Clark and his wife.

Then, Clark’s mother-in-law had an unexpected medical issue and could no longer care for their daughter. Luckily, Clark’s oldest child, James, is now old enough to enroll in Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program (UPK), saving the family thousands so they could enroll their baby in full-time child care.

“Thank God for UPK. Otherwise, we would be up the creek financially,” he said.

Now in its third year, UPK has greatly expanded access to preschool by relieving the financial burden of childcare for families. However, gaps in accessibility remain.

For providers, UPK has brought more opportunities for program improvement. It has also brought more regulations that some advocates say place a high administrative burden on home-based providers and small centers with limited staff and resources.

Increasing access to preschool

UPK ensures every 4-year-old in Colorado receives 15 hours a week of free preschool the year before kindergarten. Low-income families can receive up to 30 hours of free preschool.

UPK payments are sent directly to providers. Parents pay the remaining amount if they need more hours of care than UPK provides.

In school year 2023-24 — the first year of the program — 4,268 4-year-olds were enrolled with 179 providers offering 5,219 seats. From August to November 2025, those numbers jumped to 5,037 enrollments, 232 providers, and 7,186 seats, according to Joint Initiatives for Youth + Families.

That represents an 18% increase in enrollments, a nearly 30% increase in providers, and a 38% increase in seats.

This year, about 91% of families who requested placement have been placed, said Noreen Landis-Tyson, a consultant for Joint Initiatives for El Paso County.

While this does indicate high accessibility on a wide scale, there are pockets of the county where demand outpaces availability.

Landis-Tyson said these areas of decreased access are concentrated in low-income areas, mostly in the Harrison D-2 school district, D-49, and some of Fountain-Fort Carson D-8.

Most UPK providers must also offer unsubsidized early childcare services for 0 to 4-year-olds to sustain their business at rates that most low-income families can’t afford, she said. Consequently, it’s financially risky to open a childcare center in a low-income area.  

“We’re not at capacity yet, but we’re also not serving every four-year-old that has applied,” Landis-Tyson said. “It’s more of an issue of where those providers are versus capacity across the county.”

Students might also remain unmatched because parents are holding out for a spot in the school where their child will attend kindergarten. This seems to be the case for higher rates of unmatched children in Academy D-20, although the culture might be changing as more providers become available, Landis-Tyson said.

‘A gap between the haves and have-nots’

Early Connections Learning Centers President and CEO Liz Denson said UPK has made great strides in increasing access, but there is still more work to be done.

Public service announcements fail to reach families who don’t speak English. Some families have limited transportation, Denson said. For working parents, 15 or even 30 hours falls short of a standard 40-hour work week.

The program provides no financial help for ages 0 – 3. The exorbitant cost of infant and toddler care is unaffordable for many families, pushing parents out of the workforce, Denson said.

“The greatest gap is for children who aren’t four years old. UPK is great if you have a four-year-old and a 15-hour week of care. But, it’s still not answering the challenge of getting people back into the workforce. Right now, it’s not answering the challenge of ensuring they’re all receiving a high-quality preschool experience,” Denson said.

“I worry that we’re not bridging the gaps we intended to bridge. Yes, we want to reach all children with this universal concept, but there is still a gap between the haves and have-nots, and that’s going to be really challenging to overcome in a meaningful way,” she added.

Keeping up with burdensome regulations

UPK brings more regulations, meetings, and quality standards that eat up providers’ precious time and resources.

In July 2026, the state will begin rolling out mandatory UPK quality standards, Landis-Tyson said. These will be unveiled in a phased approach, which will hopefully give providers time to bring their programs up to par with the new standards.

Melanie Trujillo, the owner and sole employee of home-based UPK provider Leaps and Bounds, feels the burden of those increased regulations.

“I do worry about (the standards),” Trujillo said. “It’s a lot to keep track of as things keep changing. I’m just one person.”

With a high variability in the quality of programs across the county, Denson said the standards are a step in the right direction to ensure students receive the best education. In an ideal world, the standards would be tailored to each provider’s size and type of program.

Laying a strong foundation for a child’s education

Since UPK was established, Trujillo lengthened her program from three to five hours per day to better align with the program’s goal of preparing children for kindergarten.

“It allows me to slow down and be more intentional in my teaching and build a stronger sense of community with my students,” Trujillo said. “The day feels less rushed, and I have time to introduce ideas that I simply couldn’t fit in before.”

She received UPK grants that improved her program’s quality and curriculum, and paid for classroom supplies and a new shade structure on her playground.

Denson said preschool lays the foundation for the rest of a child’s education by teaching them the basic social-emotional skills needed to be successful in a classroom.

“That’s one benefit of UPK; it provides access to some sort of structure for children to experience before they enter a kindergarten classroom, and provides them opportunities for success in a better way than not having access at all,” Denson said.

Despite the growing pains, Trujillo said UPK has been a net-positive for her business and the families she serves.

“(UPK) has been a growing and stretching experience for me. It’s been frustrating at times, overwhelming at times, and a blessing at other times,” she said. “I’ll continue to participate in UPK as long as I have the majority say in what and how I teach using best practices that I feel are so vital for our youngest learners.”