Colorado Springs’ community college and private liberal arts college are coming together to create a new pathway for their students.

Starting in fall 2026, Colorado College will begin enrolling up to two students from Pikes Peak State College each year. Students who earn an associate degree with a grade-point-average of 3.3 or higher will be eligible for admission consideration.

The program is designed to support students from early planning through enrollment, including pre-application advising on admission, financial aid, and transfer credit evaluation from staff of both colleges.

“For many Pikes Peak State College students, Colorado College feels like a separate world, a prestigious, highly selective institution. It feels miles away from a (Harrison) District 2 or a (Colorado Springs) District 11 school, where may have they attended many miles … across town,” said PPSC President Lance Bolton. “And this opportunity that’s being created can really change that perception for students.”

With two students per year set for the pilot years, Tony Cabasco, CC’s vice president for enrollment, said this could grow to additional students and potentially other colleges as the partnership is refined over time.

During a partnership signing ceremony Thursday, Cabasco said he had developed similar transfer programs at other universities before coming to Colorado Springs over two years ago. He hopes to provide local students with the accessibility of PPSC and the unique liberal arts offerings of CC.

“We also know that students that begin their journey at community colleges bring valuable perspectives and experiences that enhance liberal arts education for everyone,” he said.  “They enrich classrooms, campus communities and go on to contribute in their fields and in civic life.

Cabasco said CC’s goal is to more than triple the number of transfers from PPSC over the next 10 years from the past decade.

Talks for the new partnership began shortly after Manya Whitaker became CC’s interim superintendent in 2024 during a meeting with Bolton. Whitaker said her days as a consultant for K-12 education were when she recognized the unique barriers in higher education for some students and how to meet them where they are.

“Not everybody needs to start at a four-year institution. And because how varied student circumstances are, not everybody can,” she said.  

Sami Koller is about to complete her first year at CC after earning her associate degree in geology at PPSC in spring 2025. She expects to graduate in spring 2027. As a first-generation, non-traditional student working a full-time job, she figured she would never get accepted into the prestigious school, which offers the only Bachelor of Arts degree in Geology in the area.

“It was all too good to be true,” she said. “Here was a place where I could truly explore my passion and find my place in this field that I love so much. But I was convinced that CC was out of my reach.”

It wasn’t until she attended a math colloquium in 2024, when she heard from a recent PPSC graduate who was accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that she decided to apply to CC.

Along with her high GPA, she pointed to the college meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need, the difference between a school’s cost of attendance and the student’s ability to pay, and its financial aid programs covering nearly all of her tuition to help make her acceptance a reality.

While Bolton said that any PPSC student could apply their degree to CC’s offerings, the humanities, arts and education were mentioned as strong programs at both schools.

In the years ahead, CC will offer advising to prospective transfer students on academic programs, transfer credits and course planning.

Up to 64 approved semester hours may be transferred from PPSC, in accordance with CC’s transfer credit guidelines. Once accepted, transfer students must complete a minimum of 16 units at CC and meet all its institutional graduation requirements.