AURORA | Last year, Goodwill Colorado opened what they say is the state’s only tuition-free high school for mature adults in Aurora called The Excel Center and boasted 68 graduates from their inaugural 2024-2025 school year.
This year, they enrolled 160 new students, school officials said.
“Goodwill of Colorado is furthering the state’s efforts with its second cohort heading to the classroom a few weeks ago, showing real-life momentum in transforming lives and preparing a new group of individuals who will soon be prepared to join Colorado’s workforce,” Excel Center officials said in a statement.
The school, at 15445 E Iliff Ave., was created to help bridge the skills gap Colorado is estimating in the coming years, with the state currently struggling with employers facing tens of thousands of unfilled positions, according to the statement.
“These students and the state’s new workforce measures (Colorado Succeeds) will prepare Colorado for major labor shortages in key sectors by 2030,” a statement from the Excel Center said.
Colorado allocated $90 million in federal and state funding for workforce training initiatives after legislation in 2022 passed to establish the Opportunity Now Colorado grant program in order to bridge the skills gap, according to the statement.
“This disconnect between job seekers’ skills and industry needs is particularly evident in healthcare, construction and advanced manufacturing industries, and it will only worsen without action,” Colorado Succeeds said on its website.
Nearly 300,000 adults in Colorado lack a high school diploma or equivalent, which limits their access to family-sustaining jobs, and adults who complete high school can earn $7,000 more annually, which reduces their reliance on social services and also strengthens the economy, according to Excel’s statement.
As many as 91.4% of Colorado’s top-tier jobs require postsecondary education, according to the statement.
Some of Colorado’s most in-demand sectors that The Excel Center is preparing students to transition into include healthcare, IT, skilled trades and clean energy.
The Excel Center works to accommodate students with full-time jobs and a family to support and other challenges that get in the way. such as medical issues, according to Excel’s website.
The school provides students with a drop-in day care, transportation assistance, micro-credentials and certifications to jump-start a new career, career counseling and life coaching and job placement assistance.