Table of Contents

2026 - 2027 Provider Timeline

We are currently in the Direct Enrollment phase of the 26/27 UPK year! 

Providers: please keep an eye on your portal for new matches daily. 

UPK Quality Service Standard Reporting

Required: Universal Preschool (UPK) Quality Service Standard Reporting 

This reporting is requested for all current 2025-2026 participating providers as outlined in your Provider Agreement under “Reporting Requirements” and is due by June 15th, 2026. 

For new providers who will begin offering services in the 2026-2027 program year, your reporting will be due by August 31st, 2026. 

Guide: Universal Preschool (UPK) Quality Service Standards Reporting

Direct Enrollment Transfers

So you want to transfer schools?

Questions to think about before you transfer your Universal Preschool funding:

• Do you have a new school in mind to transfer to?

  • Have you talked to that provider and confirmed they have an open Universal Preschool seat for your kiddo?

• Need to browse childcare in your area? Use this link

• When a child enrolls with two providers within the same month, CDEC will prorate the payment by the number of days the child was enrolled with each provider.

  • It is extremely important that providers use the correct start date when enrolling as well as using the correct end date when unenrolling as soon as they are notified. This will support CDEC in ensuring that payment is accurate.

Step 1:

Parents: Let your Current Provider (A) know that you will be leaving their center and coordinate an end date. Coordinate with New Provider (B) a start date for your kiddo.

Current Provider (A): Unenroll the child from your Universal Preschool Portal using the coordinated end date

• Current Provider (A) can select a future unenroll date (last date of attendance) which will allow a new provider to select their start date (after unenroll date) for the child.

Step 2:

Parents: After you see an Unenrolled status on your application, add your New Provider (B) to your application and list as #1 or #2.

• This new selection will be sent straight to the New Provider (B) directly for them to accept/decline

• If you are unable to add new selection, please reach out to the Helpdesk to unlock your application

New Provider (B): Check your Universal Preschool Portal for a new match, accept the child's application and let the family know they have been accepted.

• See Provider Handbook for details about accepting matches 

Step 3:

Parents: After a provider accepts your application, you will receive an email notification or communication from New Provider (B) that you have a new match. Go into your Universal Preschool application and accept the match.

• Parents, this is your last step in this process! No more Universal Preschool action is needed on your end. 

• Contact your New Provider (B) for details regarding their enrollment process.

Step 4: 

New Provider (B): Complete enrollment in your Universal Preschool Portal using the start date of your new student.

•    See Provider Handbook for details about enrolling students

Provider Handbook

This handbook contains helpful information about eligibility, the enrollment process, and resources to market your program.

Preschool Service Standards (Quality Standards)

UPK Resource Bank

UPK Quality Standards memo - issued 4/15/2026

Universal Preschool Quality Service Standards Guidebook 

Universal Preschool Program Rules and Regulations 

As outlined in the rule (specifically at § 4.113), beginning July 1, 2024, the Family and Community Engagement quality standard will come into effect, requiring that within six (6) months of participating in the Preschool Program, providers must have and implement policies and procedures (on their website or handbook distributed to families) which ensure:

• The use of interpreters or other language resources to effectively communicate in families’ home language;

• Seeking input from participating families on priorities, interests, home routines, and cultural and social practices;

• Engaging with families on goals that inform the provider’s interactions and instruction with children, including with multilingual learners;

• Engaging families and community partners in decision-making on preschool operations;

• Involving families in the transition of children into and out of the Preschool Program, including the transition into Kindergarten; and The quality of program-family and program-staff interactions.

Provider Rates & Payments

• 26/27 UPK Rates

• Payment Office Hours slides

• Payment Office Hours recording

Provider Dates & Action Items

Provider Agreement: Further Clarification on Fees

• Provider agrees to post preschool tuition, enrollment, and ancillary costs on the Provider’s profile in the Colorado Preschool Program’s Application System prior to enrollment. These costs shall include the overall out-of-pocket cost to the family inclusive of all charges and fees the Provider will or may charge for the 2025-26 school year. Provider is prohibited from charging a fee that is not posted on the Provider’s profile in the Colorado Preschool Program’s Application System.

• Charging extra tuition to families for UPK awarded hours is not allowed.

• All other fees and any tuition for hours beyond what has been awarded must be posted on your profile to be allowable.

Charging tuition to families for hours funded by UPK is defined below:

• Charging tuition for any hours covered by a UPK rate is forbidden by state law, regulation, and contract. Section 26.5-4-204(3)(a) instructs that providers provide "the number of hours of preschool services established by department rule." UPK Regulation also provides that "Participating providers must agree to guarantee families at least the minimum number of hours defined in rule for the per-child rate that is provided." This requirement is also restated in the Contract, in the Program Requirements section, paragraph 3.

ECPC Level

• Curious about your Early Childhood Professional Credentials? Learn more here! 

• UPK Lead Teacher and Assistant Teacher are now available in PDIS

Fee Refunds Starting January 1, 2026

Senate Bill 25-004 Update

• Senate Bill 25-004 (codified at section 26.5-5-332, C.R.S) was signed into law in March 2025 and is effective on January 1, 2026. The bill states that if a prospective family pays a child care center, family child care home, or neighborhood youth organization ("child care program") an application fee, a deposit fee, or wait list fee and is not enrolled in the child care program after six months of paying the fee, the fee is refundable. A child care program may retain a reasonable administrative fee, as determined by the Department, from the refundable fee before issuing a refund to the prospective family. The law also contains transparency requirements for fee schedules and fee refund processes for both prospective and enrolled families.

  • Will providers be required to reimburse families' registration fees/deposits if they do not enroll in their program?

    • • Yes. From the legislation: "The prospective family must submit a written request to the child care program to receive a refund." The legislation further adds that: "Upon receiving the written request... the child care program shall refund the fees [] and may remove the prospective family…”

    • The legislation also includes that: "[A] child care program shall provide a fee schedule and the process on fee refunds [] to a prospective family upon: (I) Joining a wait list; (II) Registration; and (III) Request of the family", and there's a similar provision for enrolled families which reads that: "[A] child care program shall provide a fee schedule and the process on fee refunds [] to an enrolled family upon: (I) Enrollment; (II) Amendments to the fee schedule; and (III) Amendments to the process on fee refunds."

  • Will this legislation influence or limit the amount of registration or other fees that programs charge all families at the time of enrollment?

    • No. These requirements stand on their own and only apply to "application fee[s]", "deposit fee[s]", and "wait list fee[s]" as those terms are defined in the legislation

For families still seeking a match or who would like to transfer to a different UPK provider, please review the information below to proceed with a direct placement.

Direct Enrollment:

For families still seeking a match, please review the information below to move forward with a direct placement.

• Step 1. Log into an existing account at http://upk.colorado.gov, or create an account (one account per family) if you have not yet submitted an application, please continue with step 2.

  • Tip. If you already completed and submitted an application but have not yet been matched, please move forward with step 2 below.

• Step 2. Browse providers in your area and contact providers you are interested in to confirm whether or not they have a seat available

  • Tip. We strongly recommend engaging in a conversation with the provider in advance to increase the likelihood of a successful match and placement

• Step 3. Once you identify a provider with an available seat, let that provider know you will be adding them to your application

  • Tip. The process is so quick and simple you could complete the next few steps while you are actually meeting with the provider should you choose

• Step 4. Log into your application and make sure that the provider and program are listed in your application and in a selected status

• Step 5. Once you save the updated selection, the provider will be able to immediately accept the match

• Step 6. Once you receive and accept the match, you can complete the enrollment forms with the provider

Transferring a Match:

Families, if you are currently in an ENROLLED status but want to transfer providers, your current provider must unenroll you first. Once unenrolled, you can add the new program you'd like to match with. Please be sure this new provider is listed #1 in your application. You must contact the new provider to let them know you've made this change and would like to match. The new provider will need to 'accept/decline' on their end, and then you must do the same on yours before you can be enrolled again and eligible for UPK payments. 

IEP Direct Enrollment:

• February 29th through the end of the 2024 – 2025 school year: Special Education Administrative Units (AUs) and school districts will request placement of students with IEPs. Providers will accept matches within 2 weeks of receiving a match. Families of a child with an IEP will have until 6/30/25 to accept their match, we ask that they accept within two weeks. 

• All updates needed for children with IEPs must be handled by the AU. Please refer families and providers directly to the AU for further assistance.

  • • Please do not use tasks or email to send information related to a child with an IEP; not even a child’s unique application ID.

    • The AU will reach out to Angela Delin if they need further assistance.

Additional Hours:

If you are matched to a PART-TIME (10 hours) or HALF-DAY (15 hours) program, your options are listed below:

• No action is required if you do not want to change from 10-15 hours per week to 30 hours per week. 

• If you do want to make a change from 10-15 hours per week to 30 hours per week, please follow these steps:

  • Contact your Universal Preschool provider to see if they offer and have space in a full-day program. 

• If you receive and accept a match from a provider that has a full-day program and open availability, you must then complete all registration forms with the provider to ensure you receive this funding for additional hours.

Payments:

• A Universal Preschool Program is the number of hours a child is scheduled to attend each week. Universal Preschool funding covers the number of hours a child receives based on their eligibility.

• A child can enroll in a program schedule that is more hours than their Universal Preschool funding will cover. The hours covered by Universal Preschool must be completely free to the family, but families will be responsible for tuition for any hours beyond what their Universal Preschool award covers based on the provider’s tuition rate.

  • For example, suppose a child is enrolled in a full-day program (30-40 hours) and qualifies for the standard 15 hours of Universal Preschool funding. In that case, 15 hours will be fully covered by Universal Preschool funding, and the family will be responsible for tuition for the other +16 hours.