The Place-Based BA Program: Meeting Early Educators Where They Are
CU Denver’s place-based bachelor’s degree pilot is working to break down many of the key barriers that make it difficult for early educators to earn a degree. CU Denver is partnering with three local early care and education (ECE) programs—Clayton Early Learning, Sewall Child Development Center, and Mile High Early Learning—to offer higher education in-house (or more accurately, in-center). The first cohort started in fall 2020 with 20 early educators. The majority of the early educators are women of color and about 70 percent of them work with infants and toddlers.
Led by Dr. Rebecca Vlasin and Dr. Michael Barla, the program is rooted in three innovative characteristics. First, being place-based, the majority of the learning happens at the ECE centers where the students already work. Second, the courses are customized and differentiated based on the competencies each student has coming into the program. And third, it uses a cohort model to promote collaboration and support among students.