CU Complete helps former students complete their degrees

It is graduation week here at CU Boulder and the campus is aflutter with exuberant energy as faculty, staff, and families celebrate the accomplishments of our students and usher them to the next chapter in their lives.

It is also the time of year when Continuing Education staff reach out to former CU Boulder students who, for reasons as unique as they are, never finished their degree. If you, or someone you know, wishes to celebrate their own graduation someday, we may be able to help.

Continuing Education offers a service called CU Complete, which is designed to help former degree students complete their degree. Academic, financial aid and career advisors are available, at no cost, to help students understand their options and develop a plan to finish their degree. Advisors can also provide assistance and referrals for enrollment at a variety of colleges and universities in the state.

CU Complete overview

Since Continuing Education started this service in March 2009, we have worked with over 600 students and graduated nearly 200. Time and money are the primary barriers to degree completion for most students. In addition, many students need more flexible course and degree options in order to fit their educational goals into their already busy lives.

Inspired by our students, we have worked strategically with academic departments and individual faculty over the last seven years to increase our online and evening course offerings to make degree completion easier for working adults. We also offer scholarship funding to help address financial barriers that keep many students from earning their degrees. To date, we have awarded over $140,000 in tuition support to our students.

Continuing Education celebrates its students

CU Complete students come from diverse backgrounds and their reasons for leaving school vary. What they share is a determination to finish what they started one, five, ten, or twenty years ago.

I went to school for a little while after high school, but it just wasn’t right for me at the time. I ended up leaving and joined the military. While deployed in Iraq, I decided I wanted to finish my degree and contacted Continuing Education. They helped me find a flexible program with online credit classes, so I could attend school while being deployed. When I returned to Colorado, I became a regular student on the main campus.

– John Patrick Sansom, graduated with a Bachelors in Political Science in Spring 2011 and a law degree in Spring 2015

Twenty years ago, I was a CU student competing on the track and field team and completing the requirements to graduate magna cum laude. Unfortunately, I had to leave CU before I could complete the final two classes I needed to complete my degree. I ended up taking a part-time temp job that turned into a full-time career and then I became a single mom. I never imagined that it would take so long to complete my degree, but sometimes a funny little thing called life changes your plans. Fortunately, with the help of CU Complete, I did it and now I look forward to beginning an MBA program.

– Starla Ahu, graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology in Spring 2012

We are proud of our students and dedicated to helping them on their own path to graduation. If you would like to learn more about CU Complete, please contact us at ceadvise@colorado.edu or (303) 492-5148.

Programs: CU Complete