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Career Education Center Early College

Public Grades 9-12
277th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 328 Colorado High Schools
Better than 16% of Colorado high schools
Summary

Career Education Center Early College is a public high school in Denver, Colorado that serves 467 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of School District No. 1, which is ranked 76 out of 115 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Academically, Career Education Center Early College consistently performs below the district and state averages on standardized tests like CMAS, SAT, and PSAT. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 11.4% of 11th-grade students were proficient or better in CMAS/Science, compared to the district's 19.2% and the state's 25%. The school's graduation rate of around 84.2% is on par with nearby schools but lower than the state average, and its dropout rate of 1.9-3.8% is higher than the state. Additionally, the school has a very high chronic absenteeism rate, ranging from 27.7% to 37.4% in recent years.

Compared to nearby schools like Denver Montessori Junior/Senior High School, Colorado High School Charter, and RiseUp Community School, Career Education Center Early College performs significantly worse on academic measures. The school's high percentage of economically disadvantaged students, around 90%, may be a contributing factor to its academic challenges, and targeted interventions and support may be necessary to improve student outcomes.

468
Students ?
10.7
Student/teacher ratio ?
$25,671
Per pupil spending ?
85.5%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 2650 Eliot Street
       Denver, CO  80211-4711

(720) 423-6600

District: School District No. 1

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
91.7%
White:
3.6%
African American:
2.4%
more
 See top rated Colorado high schools

 Compare Career Education Center Early College to nearby high schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Rebounding — 5th percentile in 2022 → 16th in 2025
Strengths
97% graduate in 4 years — above the Colorado average (86%)
Ranking is rebounding — up to 16th (2025) from a 5th-percentile low (2022)
Small classes — about 11 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Colorado average (28% vs 47% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (16th percentile)
!Reading and Writing scores 18 pts below the Colorado average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school28%
District avg41%
Colorado avg47%
277th of 328
Colorado public high schools ?
Bottom 16%▼ down 16 pts since 2015
From bottom 31% (2015) to bottom 16% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Colorado High Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
18th of 30High Schools in the School District No. 1
76th of 115School District No. 1 among Colorado districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202516.8277 of 32815.5%★☆☆☆☆
202418.2289 of 34917.2%★☆☆☆☆
202318.1283 of 34918.9%★☆☆☆☆
20223.3210 of 2215.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20215.6199 of 2105.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201931.8270 of 41134.3%★★☆☆☆
201824.9275 of 38829.1%★☆☆☆☆
201731.2158 of 25638.3%★★☆☆☆
201622.7188 of 25526.3%★☆☆☆☆
201529.9201 of 29231.2%★★☆☆☆
201446.5208 of 36943.6%★★☆☆☆
201371.293 of 34973.4%★★★★☆
201273.781 of 33475.7%★★★★☆
201170.3101 of 33770.0%★★★★☆
201053.3175 of 32746.5%★★☆☆☆
200942.4195 of 31037.1%★★☆☆☆
200841.5189 of 30137.2%★★☆☆☆
200740.7191 of 29835.9%★★☆☆☆
200631.4216 of 28624.5%★☆☆☆☆
200529.4213 of 28023.9%★☆☆☆☆
200433.2202 of 27927.6%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202335.923 of 4447.7%★★★☆☆
202219.829 of 329.4%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202514.7212 of 24714.2%★☆☆☆☆
202418.5204 of 25720.6%★☆☆☆☆
202314.8217 of 25414.6%★☆☆☆☆
202210.6228 of 25711.3%★☆☆☆☆
202112.7210 of 23912.1%★☆☆☆☆

Gifted and Talented

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
20256.0132 of 1362.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202416.9124 of 14011.4%★☆☆☆☆
20210.8114 of 1183.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202530.1119 of 18736.4%★★☆☆☆
202434.0125 of 19937.2%★★☆☆☆
202357.870 of 19864.6%★★★☆☆
202125.6136 of 18124.9%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202522.8158 of 19418.6%★☆☆☆☆
202331.0141 of 20029.5%★☆☆☆☆
202227.1154 of 20324.1%★☆☆☆☆
202139.5119 of 18836.7%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankColorado percentileRating
202515.2206 of 24616.3%★☆☆☆☆
202418.3207 of 25619.1%★☆☆☆☆
202318.3211 of 25216.3%★☆☆☆☆
202210.8221 of 25312.6%★☆☆☆☆
202119.7187 of 24022.1%★☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2023)48th percentile+29 vs school
Hispanic (2025)36th percentile+21 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)19th percentile+3 vs school
Male (2025)16th percentile~ school
Female (2025)14th percentile~ school
Gifted and Talented (2025)3rd percentile-13 vs school
By subject vs Colorado (2024-2025) ?
Reading and Writing47%-18 vs state
Mathematics20%-18 vs state
Science11%-14 vs state

1.0
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What people are saying
by a teacher
Saturday, May 30, 2020

Open Quote Administration destroyed CEC but firing and closing the professional career college classes and replaced the best students with the lowest performers to receive more federal monies and to give more $4000.00 "Student improvement" bonuses to teachers who brought F students uo to a D. Teachers with straight A students who started as straight A students and maintained A got ZERO bonus since there were no "improvements" or growth. So they quit. Now CEC is just another dismall Denver school. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Career Education Center Early College

Career Education Center Early College ranks in the bottom 15.5% of Colorado high schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 468 students attended Career Education Center Early College.

Students at Career Education Center Early College are 92% Hispanic, 4% White, 2% African American, 1% Two or more races.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Colorado Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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