Colorado Universal Preschool Program- UPK

Pre-registration for UPK is intended for children who have priority status with a UPK provider: child currently attending; sibling currently attending; or has a family member currently employed with the UPK provider.

School districts will resume primary registration for state funding 3-year-old programs through their targeted 3-year-old program. If your child is more than one year away from being eligible for kindergarten, please reach out to your provider of choice for potential preschool services or email tpecc.familyresource@gmail.com for further assistance.

You can submit an application anytime. Applications are processed in rounds. This allows us to provide an equal opportunity for applicants to access providers of their choice.

The matching rounds will occur February 10th-March 3rd and March 10th-March 31st. If you chose to apply after March 31st you will need reach out to program providers for direct enrollment based on availability. 

If you are applying for a preschool program at a school, you may need to be a resident in that district.

For example, you may not be accepted into a school-based program near your place of work as the school may need you to be a resident in that location.

To view your child’s match status, log in to your account by going to upk.colorado.gov and type in the email address or phone number you used when you created your account. After logging in, click on your child’s name and scroll to the bottom of the page to view their match status.

• When you see matched status, you must accept your match
• When you see accepted status, reach out to the provider to finalize enrollment 
• When you see enrolled status, your placement is finalized with the provider

After you accept your child’s match, your child’s preschool provider will contact you to complete their specific enrollment process. Note that your child’s placement is not confirmed until your provider has completed their enrollment process.

Click on the link below to view a video that explains the matching process.
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To edit your child’s application information or to edit your selected providers, contact us at Tpecc.familyresource@gmail.com or 719-210-7386 to have the application or enrollments unlocked. 

You can create an application with either an email address or phone number. If you can’t remember which one you registered with, contact us at Tpecc.familyresource@gmail.com or 719-210-7386

To find out how many hours your child was awarded, contact your Local Coordinating Organization (LCO).

• Pending eligibility confirmation and available funds, your child may be eligible for full-day Universal Preschool funding in school year 2024-25 if your family is low income AND your child has one other qualifying factor.
• Children found eligible to receive 30 hours/week of Universal Preschool must be enrolled in a full-day or extended-day program to receive the full-day funding.

Every child in Colorado is eligible for 15 hours per week of high-quality preschool in their year before Kindergarten or if the child is 4 years old before or on October 1st, 2025.

Families of children in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten who are low income AND have one other qualifying factor, are eligible for an additional 15 hours stacked on top of the half-day programming, pending eligibility confirmation and available funding.

No, you can apply for many types of programs. Your options include part-time, half-day, and full-day. Half-day (15 hours) of that program will go toward your total cost of care.

For example, if you are eligible for half-day, but need full-day care, the half-day portion is covered by Universal Preschool Colorado and the additional hours could be paid through Head Start, local funding, CCCAP or parent pay. Check with your provider to determine that amount, or review their rates on their application page.

Proof of date of birth and residency will be collected as part of the registration process with the provider with whom you are matched.

You will need to provide proof of income with your application if you are applying for additional hours.

Certain families may need to provide a waiver for specific school districts in Denver and Canyon City if enrolling a child under 3. The LCO of these districts can support these families.

Documents that will be accepted to showing household income include:

• Jobs: Paycheck stub or pay envelope that shows the amount and how often pay is received; letter from employer stating gross wages and how often you are paid (this statement of earnings form may be used); or, if you work for yourself, business or farming papers, such as ledger or tax books.
• Social Security, Pensions, or Retirement: Social Security retirement benefit letter, statement of benefits received, or pension award notice.
• Unemployment, Disability, or Worker’s Compensation: Notice of eligibility from State employment security office, check stub, or letter from the Worker’s Compensation office.
• TANF Payments: Benefit letter from the State TANF office.
• Child Support or Alimony: Court decree, agreement, or copies of checks received.
• All Other Income (Such as Rental Income): Information that shows the amount of the income, name of the person who received the income, the date it was received, and how often it was received. 
• Military Housing Privatization Initiative: Letter or rental contract showing that your housing is part of the Military Privatized Housing Initiative. 

If you do not have income, please send a brief note explaining how you provide food, clothing, and housing for your household, and when you expect an income.

For Universal Preschool Colorado, the definition of homelessness is having a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings; living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; or, is a child who is migratory who qualifies as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the child is living in circumstances described in this definition.

While searching for providers, families can filter for special accommodations. Providers are required to list what they are able to support. This includes things such as dietary restrictions, routine medication, language and physical supports, and a variety of other needs.

Please contact your school district to ensure IEP resource alignment.

We want to offer families a wide range of options for their providers. However, we will still have certain limitations for school-based providers. Families applying for a school-based provider may need to be a resident of that district.

If you need to edit your application for any reason, please contact your local coordinating organization (LCO).

If your child was born between October 2, 2019 and October 1, 2020, they are eligible for the up to 15 hours available to 4-year-olds. 

n the state of Colorado, preschool and kindergarten are voluntary and therefore families have the right to defer enrollment in both based on their child’s needs. The Universal Preschool Colorado program is funded through the legislature to cover services for four-year-old children in the year before they are eligible for kindergarten. If your child will be 5 on October 1, 2025, they are not eligible for free preschool through UPK.

While your child may still enroll in preschool, their attendance is not funded by Universal Preschool Colorado. Families with children that will be five on October 1, 2025 that wish to send their child to preschool in the 2025-2026 school year should contact their desired providers directly to inquire about enrollment outside of Universal Preschool Colorado.

If you do not see the provider you are looking for, please contact the provider directly. There are several reasons why the provider may not be visible yet. Universal Preschool Colorado is a voluntary program; if your preferred provider is not registered with Universal Preschool Colorado, we encourage you to ask them to join!

Our system will do its best to match you to your most preferred provider(s). If you are matched with a provider that no longer meets your needs, you will be able to reject that match. You may need to resubmit your application if you reject the match, depending on when the rejection is completed.