Gale and the Colorado State Library Provide Residents Access to Accredited High School Diplomas and Career Certificates
DENVER and FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., June 7, 2017 — The Colorado State Library has partnered with Gale, a leading provider of library resources and a Cengage company, to offer accredited high school diplomas and career certificates at public libraries across the state. Qualifying Colorado adults in select communities can enroll in the Career Online High School (COHS) program starting today. Nearly half a million Colorado adults, or 9% of the population, do not have a high school diploma, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
“Libraries have always been an integral part of their local communities for learning and information. The Colorado State Library is pleased to be a partner with them in this effort to help residents who want to complete their high school education and prepare for a career,” said Eugene Hainer, Assistant Commissioner, Colorado State Library.
“Career Online High School is a great benefit for the people of Denver,” said Michelle Jeske, City Librarian, Denver Public Library, the first library in the state to start offering COHS. “The opportunities provided through COHS have a cumulative effect: helping people better themselves and ultimately their families, neighborhoods and the City as a whole. It is a natural fit for our mission to connect people with information, ideas and resources that strengthen our community.”
The participating library systems throughout the state will award scholarships for COHS to qualified learners looking to earn high school diplomas and advance their careers. Each student enrolled in COHS is paired with an academic coach who offers ongoing guidance and encouragement, evaluates performance, and connects the learner with the resources needed to demonstrate mastery of the course material. Classes are supported by state board certified instructors, and students have 24/7 access to the online learning platform. Coursework begins in one of eight high-growth, high-demand career fields (across a wide spectrum, from child care and education to certified transportation) before progressing to the core academic subjects. Students have 18 months to complete the program but many have graduated sooner (10 months on average) by transferring in previously earned high school credits.
“Career Online High School will help Colorado residents improve their education, their career opportunities, and their lives,” said Paul Gazzolo, senior vice president and general manager at Gale. “It also enables public libraries to demonstrate their impact on local economic and workforce development in a critical time for library funding.”
Interested Colorado residents can visit http://www.careeronlinehs.gale.com/co to learn more about the program, and see the complete list of libraries offering it. In addition, COHS has been named to the Colorado Eligible Training Provider List. Residents who do not qualify for the library program can apply for federal aid from the Work Force Investment and Opportunity Act to enroll in COHS. More information here.
About Career Online High School
Career Online High School was developed in 2012 through a partnership by ed2go, a division of Cengage that provides students with online continuing education and career training, and Smart Horizons Career Online Education in an effort to provide affordable, career-based online education opportunities for the millions of adults in the United States without high school diplomas. In 2014, the program was adapted for the public library market by Gale, a Cengage company.
About Cengage and Gale
Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. The company serves the higher education, K-12, professional, library and workforce training markets worldwide. Gale, a Cengage company, provides libraries with original and curated content, as well as the modern research tools and technology that are crucial in connecting libraries to learning, and learners to libraries. For more than 60 years, Gale has partnered with libraries around the world to empower the discovery of knowledge and insights – where, when, and how people need it. Gale has 500 employees globally with its main operations in Farmington Hills, Michigan. For more information, please visit www.gale.com.