A new partnership between the University of Colorado at Boulder's BUENO Center and the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation will help Denver residents without high school degrees earn general education diplomas, or GEDs.
The new program called BUENO Center and Beyond taps into the BUENO Center's educational expertise and the chamber's business expertise, according to Leonard Baca, director of the BUENO Center. The program is similar to the center's nationally recognized High School Equivalency Program, which helps migrant and seasonal workers earn their GEDs in six mainly rural sites across Colorado.
"This new partnership with the Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation will make this opportunity available for the first time to migrant workers as well as nonmigrant candidates who live in the downtown Denver area," Baca said.
Students will receive tutoring and guidance from teachers in the BUENO Center to help them study and prepare to earn their GED. Once they complete their GED, graduates can take advantage of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Hispanic Opportunities in the Workforce Program, which helps with job searches and placements.
The effort is well worth it when it comes to income. The median salary for people who did not complete high school was just over $13,000 in 2005, according to the latest estimate from the U.S. Census Bureau. Those with a high school degree earned just over $21,000, while a four-year college degree commanded just over $40,000.
"We hope this program inspires our community to pursue education," said Jeff Campos, president and CEO of the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "As a result, the graduates will have additional opportunities to be part of Denver's growing economy."
The BUENO Center, which is located within CU-Boulder's School of Education, will provide instructors and materials for the program, which has no upper age limitation. The average age of students in the center's migrant farm worker program is 35, according to Baca, who added that to the best of his recollection the oldest graduate was 68.
"One of the highlights of the partnership is that our students will qualify for jobs with chamber-sponsoring organizations and qualify for college scholarships," Baca said. "Another unique thing is that we will be able to serve nonmigrants, which we haven't done before due to grant guidelines."
As the nation's largest high school equivalency program for migrant and seasonal workers, the BUENO Center's High School Equivalency Program has helped more than 10,000 migrant farm workers graduate with GEDs. The center graduates more than 600 people each year, he said.
The BUENO Center was established in 1976 to improve educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students through teacher training, research projects and staff development and training. Since its creation, the center has brought in about $57 million in private and federal funding. For information about the BUENO Center visit .
The Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce developed the Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation to address the educational needs in the Denver community, with an overall mission to promote educational achievement, economic advancement and leadership development in the Hispanic community. For more information visit the Web site at .