SCCGP Funding Opportunity

Applications must be submitted via GAINS, but the following materials can support understanding, preparation, and planning.

Submitting the Application

Application will open in GAINS on Monday, December 1, 2025, and close on Thursday, February 26, 2026.

Accessing GAINS:

1. School District and BOCES Applicants: Contact your district Local Access Manager (LAM) to receive access to GAINS
2. Charter School Applicants: Complete the Charter School GAINS Access Request Form

Get support with this process on CDE’s GAINS Training webpage.

View the Word document version for reference only.

Access the budget reminders Word document  to facilitate completing the budget section of the application.

Access the SCCG walkthrough to support the submission process.

• SCCG RFA Webinar 1.21.2026 (recording) 
• RFA Application Webinar 2026 Slides (PDF)

Introduction and Purpose of the Grant

This Request for Applications (RFA) distributes funds to eligible education providers pursuant to the requirements of the School Counselor Corps Grant Program (SCCGP), C.R.S. 22-91-101 through 22-91-105.

The purpose of SCCGP is to increase the availability and implementation of effective school-based counseling to increase the state graduation rate and increase the percentage of students who appropriately prepare for, apply to, and continue into postsecondary education.

Local Education Providers (LEPs) are eligible to apply for this opportunity to increase the number of school counselors for secondary and elementary students and the level of school counseling services provided.

An eligible LEP is:

• A School District;
• A Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES);
• A Charter School authorized by a School District; or
• A Charter School authorized by the Charter School Institute.

Elementary applications must address how early exposure to comprehensive school counseling programs prepares young students for postsecondary and workforce readiness.

Participating sites included on an LEP’s application must have a CDE-issued four-digit school code.

This application is being released but is contingent upon state legislature enacting pending appropriations to the SCCGP.

SCCGP is a four-year cohort grant.

• Year One: awards will range between $30,000 and $50,000 per funded Local Education Provider. The first year of the grant is developmental and will focus on an intentional data review, creation of SMART goals, program development, and direct services.
• Years Two through Four: successful grantees may request up to $90,000 per funded school for implementation and increase of school counseling services.

Funds may be used to supplement and not supplant or replace any monies currently being used to provide school counseling positions or activities.

Allowable activities include:

• Licensed school counselor salaries and benefits for site-based, districtwide, or BOCES-wide positions.
  • Grant Year 1: School counselor salaries and benefits are an optional use of funds to support grant work in year one only.
  • Grant Years 2-4: 1.0 School counselor FTE salaries and benefits are required per funded site.
• Grant-related travel to in-person required training and professional development.
• Career awareness and postsecondary preparatory services.
• Professional development.
• Events, supplies, and technology related to comprehensive school counseling program development and implementation; and school counseling program development and implementation.
• Consulting services.

Funds may not be used for the following (including, but not limited to):

• Capital equipment.
• Building improvements, construction, or maintenance.
• Indirect costs, or incentives for students and/or staff.
• Online or virtual school counseling positions for in-person sites.
• FTE related to non-school counseling positions (i.e., school psychologists, social workers, clinical counselors).

Priority points are for participating sites only. They are only awarded for sites that are directly applying for funding in the current cycle. *Each participating site on the application must meet priority considerations to receive the points.

• LEPs not employing a licensed school counselor in the last 3 years.
• LEPs with current student-to-counselor ratio higher than 250 students per school counselor.
• Schools at which the dropout rate exceeds the statewide average. 2023-2024 annual dropout rate for the State of Colorado is 1.9% OR percentage of K-3 students identified with significant reading deficiency at elementary schools that exceed the statewide average of 19.8% in 2023-2024.
• Schools with a high percentage of students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch exceeding the statewide K-12 rate of 44.9% from 2024-2025.
• Postsecondary remediation (Developmental Education) rates at secondary schools that exceed the statewide average of 16.9% for the class of 2021.
• Postsecondary matriculation (Postsecondary Enrollment) rates that are below the statewide average of 49.9% for the class of 2021.
• LEPs (Districts/BOCES/Charter Schools) that have never received the grant.
• LEPs in geographic locations of underserved areas of the state.
• LEPs that include a CDE-designated Alternative Education Campus (AEC) as a participating school in this application.
  • The priority criteria for AECs must only be met by at least one participating site.