Our
Western Slope
Students
HIGH SCHOOL
LOCATIONS MAP
Welcome to College Outreach. We are dedicated to serving the underrepresented students of the rural Western Slope of Colorado. The Western Slope is a unique geographic area stretching from the Continental Divide to the Utah border. The 32 counties we serve cover approximately 47,174 square miles, an area larger in size than the entire state of Pennsylvania. The Western Slope is much less densely populated than the eastern portion of Colorado with only a few towns having populations in excess of 5,000, and its largest city, Grand Junction in Mesa County, having a total population of nearly 60,000. The primary economic activities in the area are ranching, fruit growing, mining and tourism. The geography of the Western Slope ranges from the high mountain areas of Aspen, Crested Butte, Gunnison and Durango to the semi-arid canyon land surrounding Grand Junction to the high country sheep ranches of Meeker and Rangely.
OUR PRIMARY ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
OUR FAIR
The students invited to the College Fair are as diverse as the Western Slope landscape. In 2010 the number of students attending public school in each of the 27 invited counties ranged from a total of 22,698 in Mesa County (Grand Junction area) to only 65 students in all of San Juan County (county population 699).
In 2010, the schools of Western Slope educated the same number of students as are attending school in the Albuquerque, New Mexico school district but covers a geographic area that is over 260 times as large. Mesa County, the most populous county, has a total 6.82 students per square mile while Hinsdale County has only .09 students per square mile.
Of the 89,199 students in the 27 county area, 25,878 or 29.01 percent were Hispanic with the highest percentage of Hispanic students occurring in Lake County with 70.12 percent of its student population being Hispanic.
The Western Slope also has a strong Native American presence with 2,129 or 2.39 percent of its students being of Native American heritage. Montezuma County in the southwestern corner of the State had the highest percentage of Native American students with 20.59 percent of its student body being Native American. Neighboring La Plata County also had a significant percentage of Native Americans with 7.23 percent of its student body being Native American.
The students’ interest in and commitment to the Colorado Western Slope College Fair is notable with many students traveling long distances to attend. Using just one example, those students coming from Mancos in Montezuma County have traveled 272 miles and six hours to reach the Fair.
2200 STUDENTS
80 HIGH SCHOOLS
37% FIRST GENERATION
5% NATIVE AMERICAN
13% SUPER GENERATION
23% HISPANIC OR LATINO
21% FREE OR REDUCED LUNCH