College & career readiness in Colorado
Colorado requires every student in grades 9–12 to maintain an ICAP (most districts start earlier), and its Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness menu lets students demonstrate readiness a dozen different ways.
ICAP — Individual Career and Academic Plan
The ICAP at a glance
The moving parts every Colorado counseling team is tracking today — usually across spreadsheets, PDFs, and a filing cabinet.
Work-based learning & financial aid in Colorado
Work-based learning
CareerWise Colorado pioneered statewide youth apprenticeship; the state's WBL continuum and Career Development Incentive Program ($1,000 per credential/WBL completion) put real money behind experiences.
FAFSA & financial aid
No FAFSA graduation mandate; Colorado runs FAFSA completion challenges and reports school-level rates.
Atlara ↔ ICAP
ICAP quality indicators, covered
Atlara's Colorado framework tracks the ICAP elements CDE looks for — exploration, goals, course alignment, applications, aid — and auto-completes them from real student activity.
Graduation guidelines menu
SAT, ASVAB, credentials, capstones, and dual credit all live in one student record, so counselors see which readiness demonstration each senior is closest to.
WBL worth $1,000
Placement and credential tracking gives districts the documentation the Career Development Incentive Program pays out on.
Seeded and demo-ready
Atlara ships with the Colorado ICAP framework built in — pilot it with your real graduation guidelines from day one.
Policy details above are a planning summary, not legal guidance — confirm current requirements with the Colorado Department of Education.