(COLORADO) — The Universal Preschool Colorado program has matched 24,743 families with providers, saving them $6,000 a year, for nearly $150 million in savings for families around Colorado.

Created with HB 22-1295 the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC), launched the program for the 2023-2024 school year. The program offers a minimum of part-time (10 hours/week) or half-day (15 hours/week) of preschool to every Colorado child in the year before they are eligible to enter kindergarten.

Families who applied in the first round of Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado have received an email from the state letting them know which provider they matched with and the next steps for enrollment.

“We are thrilled to see that an overwhelming majority of families who applied in the first round have been matched to a provider of their choice,” said Dr. Lisa Roy, CDEC Executive Director. “We are excited that tens of thousands of Colorado families will be able to access high-quality education and save thousands of dollars annually by participating in UPK Colorado, and we look forward to continuing to serve Colorado children.”

Families have until May 10 to log back into UPK.Colorado.Gov and accept or decline their match. Families that accept their match will need to complete the registration process with their Universal Preschool provider.

Families are encouraged to connect with their matched provider to learn more about their program philosophy, daily schedule, registration procedures, policies, and parent tuition responsibility.

Families seeking to participate in Universal Preschool Colorado that have not yet applied can continue to sign up and make provider rankings for their child. Enrollment is on a rolling basis and families can log in to UPK’s website to find a provider in their area. There is no deadline to sign up.