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Become a Colorado Student Leader.
Founder’s Letter
Dear Friends,
Founding Colorado Student Leaders Institute, Colorado’s governor’s school, was the most exciting thing I have done in my career and one of the most impactful. Since it’s founding in 2013, I have had the privilege of working with community leaders, business people, educators, politicians, and next-door neighbors – along with students from across Colorado - who want to make sure Colorado has as strong a program as we can.
To help you understand, governor’s schools are summer institutes for the best and brightest high school students in a state. The goal is to retain these students, in whom the state has invested so much, for college and career. Additionally, students who participate in one of these programs are 90% more likely to complete a four year degree in four years, as opposed to the national average of six years.
In Colorado, students live at a college or university chosen via RFP for one summer month, where they engage in a college-level book club, work to solve Colorado’s most pressing problems, become young entrepreneurs, consider most important ethical questions, and learn one of today’s most pressing skills – how to engage in Civil Dialogues.
This program, COSLI, is a wise investment in our kids. We work to recruit students who are Pell Grant eligible, who are the first-generation in their families to be considering post-secondary work and any teen who is interested in becoming part of a solution, a leader.
Each year we are tasked with raising funds necessary to cover the bridge between our generous foundation and large private donors and the small tuition that we charge as the “skin in the game” for Colorado students. Contributing to COSLI – with time, treasure or talent – is an investment with returns that will ripple for generations. We hope you might consider making COSLI part of your giving in some way.
I’m looking forward to the return of COSLI with our newest class scheduled for 2027.
Thank you!
Celeste Archer, President/CEO
Colorado Student Leaders Institute
About Us
Description
Originally a state-codified program (SB290, 2015), COSLI was the newest member of the governor’s school network when it began over ten years ago. Governor’s schools are programs steeped in a rich 60+ year history and revered throughout the nation as a highly successful model for post-secondary and life preparedness.
COSLI is a summer residential program housed on a selectively chosen campus. For one month each summer best and brightest students, chosen from a competitive pool of applicants, explore diverse topics through a lecture series by university professors, industry, political and non-profit leaders; complete significant hands-on projects (entrepreneurial business lab, ethics case competitions, legislative policy creation and, learning the importance of Civil Dialogues); and, builds a network of future leaders who create change.
These students must demonstrate, first through their application, that they meet the academic rigors the program requires. COSLI prepares students for post-secondary life by fostering leadership, independence, innovativeness, initiative, critical thinking, and creativity. In many states, governor’s school students must be formally designated as gifted and talented. COSLI is searching for students who show the necessary intellectual curiosity, possibly shown through that designation but sometimes missed by standardized methods and tests. Some might call them unicorns.
In most states, governor’s school programs are funded entirely with educational funds. Because of Colorado’s unique budgeting paradigm, COSLI represents a strong partnership among public, private, and corporate champions. In addition to the inherent benefits students gain, it is noteworthy that up to 80% of students participating in a governor’s school program elect to graduate from a post-secondary education program, with up to 90% completing a four-year degree in four years, instead of the now six-year nationwide average.
Mission Statement
Colorado Student Leaders Institute, an affiliate of the National Conference of Governor's Schools, is an academic summer residential program for high school students who are working to become quality leaders and who promote and inspire a strong United States of America. COSLI seeks to reinforce the importance of civic engagement, entrepreneurship, responsibility, accountability, ethics and integrity in the rising generation of American leaders.
“Think as if there is no box.”
Dr. Charles Ferguson, CU Denver