CO-WIL Frequently Asked Questions
CO-WIL — Colorado Work-Integrated Learning — is Colorado's first statewide three-year pilot program for connecting students at public colleges and universities with real-world work experiences during their academic studies. It is administered by the Colorado Department of Higher Education and is fully funded with philanthropic dollars from Ascendium Education Group and Strada Education Foundation.
CO-WIL is significant because it is the first state-wide project focused on mitigating the inequities that exist between students who can traditionally access work-based learning opportunities like internships, apprenticeships, etc., and those who may not due to limiting factors like need for paid work, caretaking, lack of access to a professional network, and more.
On average, 10-15 students will participate in each WIL course. There are 5 courses offered at each institution, so therefore 250 – 375 students will engage in WIL per semester. This pilot will run for 5 semesters, so it is anticipated that between 1,250 and 1,875 students will gain WIL experience over the course of the project.
Work Based Learning is defined in Colorado Revised Statutes § 8-83-601(15), C.R.S. as:
“Work-Based learning means learning that occurs, in whole or in part, in the workplace that provides hands-on, real-world experience and training for skills development.”
Five courses per semester will be offered at each institution for five consecutive semesters.
The focus of this initial three-year pilot project is with the 5 Institutions of Higher Education identified, but our goal is that through sustainability planning, CDHE can expand this pilot to other Institutions across the state of Colorado.
Yes, students will receive a stipend for their participation in this pilot project.
CDHE will hire both a Student and a Faculty Support Coordinator to work with students, institutions, and employers so that CDHE can facilitate and support an ongoing strategy for students to access and pursue work opportunities beyond the WIL course participation.
Yes, the project will be evaluated by the research organization, RAND.
CDHE will pursue an ongoing sustainability plan with the aim of scaling this project to other institutions of higher education in the state of Colorado as well as to create a WIL Playbook for other states to utilize and adapt at a state level.