CU Complete

91��ý turns stop-out success initiative into permanent program

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:15:11 +0000

91��ý turns stop-out success initiative into permanent program Rachel Sauer Thu, 04/23/2026 - 18:15

Bradley Worrell

Designed for students whose lives interrupted college, CU Complete offers a renewed path to graduation, building on the success of Finish What You Started

When a student leaves college before finishing their degree, the reasons are rarely simple. Health crises, family emergencies, financial difficulties, academic setbacks or other major life circumstances can interrupt even the most determined plans.

At the University of Colorado Boulder, students who once left college before completing their degree now have a structured pathway back—one built on a successful federal initiative and reimagined as a permanent program.

For the past four years, the 91��ý Division of Continuing Education, in partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Education, has overseen the Finish What You Started (FWYS) program, which was designed to help former students who demonstrate financial need complete their degree. The $3.1 million in four-year grant funding for that program was made possible by federal COVID-era relief dollars and distributed throughout the state of Colorado.

Michelle Pagnani (left), Blazey Heier (center) and Ann Herrmann (right) with the Division of Continuing Education.

Now, as Finish What You Started winds down, its success is informing a redesigned and expanded effort: CU Complete. This successor program aims to carry forward the most effective elements of FWYS while creating a longer-term, institutionally funded model for degree completion, says Blazey Heier, director of student services in the Division of Continuing Education, who has been involved with both FWYS and CU Complete.

FWYS proved its worth

From the beginning, Heier says, FWYS targeted a student population that higher education often struggles to serve: stop-out students.

“Students who stop out have a pattern of stopping out multiple times. They re-engage and then stop out again,” she says. “Finish What You Started was designed to interrupt that cycle.”

The results were striking.

By Fall 2025, 117 students had graduated through FWYS, with nine additional students expected to graduate in May, out of 182 students admitted overall, says Michelle Pagnani, program manager for CU Complete and a senior academic and career coach. She notes that this figure represents a 69% graduation rate—which is especially significant given the many challenges students faced upon returning, she says, such as family caregiving responsibilities, managing full-time jobs and dealing with serious health issues.

“Given the obstacles that this student population faces, we’re really proud of that number,” Pagnani says. She also notes that some of the students who were a few credits short of finishing their degree through FWYS will have the opportunity to do so with the new CU Complete program.

Why FWYS worked

While the scholarships provided through FWYS were substantial, Continuing Education staff emphasized that funding alone was not the primary driver of success.

Finishing what she started

For Valeria Mendoza Frutos, the road to graduation didn’t follow a traditional, linear route. Instead, by her own account, it’s been a journey marked by stops and starts, academic setbacks and personal loss, but also one ultimately shaped by resilience and the realization that it’s OK to ask for help.

Read her story

Students in the program received coordinated support that included academic and career advising, academic and career coaching, financial aid consulting and assistance coordinating with other campus offices and advisors. For many students, FWYS was the first time they had experienced such a personalized, sustained engagement from the university, says Ann Herrmann, a program manager and academic advisor in Continuing Education who conducted outreach and advising for the FWYS program.

“For many of the students, their stop-out may have been a real turning point for them—a traumatic event like a death in the family or a financial catastrophe that prevented them from continuing their education,” she says. “Back then, they may not have known about support and resources that were available. When they came back (as a result of FWYS), they’ve talked about how helpful the wrap-around support was and how vital it’s been for them to finish.”

Herrmann notes FWYS graduates have completed degrees across a wide range of disciplines, including computer science, molecular biology, psychology, economics and geography. Multiple FWYS graduates have gone on to graduate school, while others have used their degrees to move up in their organizations or start new careers.

CU Complete gets rejuvenated

As a successor to FWYS, CU Complete is not entirely new. The program initially launched in 2009 as a limited scholarship initiative offering one-time awards of $500 or $1,000, depending upon the recipient’s credit load. Over time, however, rising tuition costs and staff changes reduced its impact.

“If someone found us, we would tell them about the scholarship, but we weren’t doing outreach and we didn’t have dedicated support staff,” Heier explains.

Heier says Finish What You Started changed that trajectory. Seeing the results of intensive advising and coaching and sustained financial support, Continuing Education leaders made the case for reimagining CU Complete as a comprehensive, high-touch program modeled on the best features of FWYS.

Beginning in Fall 2026, the redesigned CU Complete program will offer semester-over-semester scholarships for up to six semesters total, paired with structured support services. Pagnani says the program will provide $1,000 per semester, with the opportunity to earn an additional $250 per term, after the student’s first semester, based upon academic performance.

Funding for CU Complete comes directly from Continuing Education revenue, making it a long-term institutional commitment rather than a time-limited grant, Heier notes. Meanwhile, unlike FWYS, CU Complete is open to both in-state and out-of-state students and does not require students to demonstrate financial need—recognizing that many students face challenges that are not captured by traditional aid metrics.

“That piece is really important,” Heier says. “A lot of times people may not fall into traditional financial-need thresholds, but that doesn’t mean they can just pay for classes—especially when paying for classes means working fewer hours.”

Eligibility is intentionally focused on students who are close to finishing. Pagnani says eligible students must have 90 or more total credits, including at least 45 from 91��ý; have been away from CU for at least two consecutive years; must be pursuing their first bachelor’s degree; and must be able to graduate within six semesters.

Herrmann says CU Complete is currently accepting applications for the revamped CU Complete program, with eight students thus far who are eligible to participate in the fall semester.

Measuring what comes next

CU Complete is launching with clear metrics in mind, Heier says. Leaders plan to track completion within the six-consecutive-semester window, compare outcomes to both FWYS and the earlier version of CU Complete and assess return on investment.

At the same time, Pagnani emphasizes that qualitative outcomes—student confidence, persistence and sense of belonging—remain central to the program’s mission.

Pagnani says CU Complete reflects a broader shift in how educational institutions think about adult learners and degree completion. The program recognizes them as individuals whose lives changed—and who still want to finish what they started, she says.

Expanding services and building community

While CU Complete mirrors FWYS in many ways, it also aims to expand beyond it.

Pagnani says plans include a one-credit onboarding course for returning students, planned for Fall 2027, as well as expanded access to career assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Strong Interest Inventory and Clifton Strengths.

“We’ve been able to offer those for free and it’s been a really meaningful benefit,” she says.

CU Complete students also will have access to a neurodiversity support group and shared resource space for adult learners who identify as having ADHD, dyslexia or autism. As the group’s facilitator, Pagnani describes it as a way for students to build community, share their stories, give and receive advice and, in some cases, normalize experiences that may have contributed to them stopping-out previously.

Along these lines, a major area of focus for CU Complete administrators is community building.

“At our graduation party last year, students were saying, ‘Why didn’t I know these people before?’” Heier says. Administrative demands had limited opportunities for peer connection under the grant, but CU Complete is being designed with more space for that work, she adds.

Meanwhile, Herrmann says she foresees CU Complete as strengthening the bonds between returning students and the university, as happened previously with Finish What You Started graduates. She notes several of those graduates shared how completing their degrees allowed them to fully claim their identity as CU alumni—attending campus events, participating in the community and seeing themselves as part of the university in a way they never could before.

“Students tell us they finally feel like they belong at CU,” she says.

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Designed for students whose lives interrupted college, CU Complete offers a renewed path to graduation, building on the success of Finish What You Started.

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Finishing what she started

Rachel Sauer — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 23:20:41 +0000

Finishing what she started Rachel Sauer Thu, 04/23/2026 - 17:20

Bradley Worrell

Against the odds, 91��ý student Valeria Mendoza Frutos prepares to graduate in May, thanks in part to the Division of Continuing Education’s Finish What You Started program

As Valeria Mendoza Frutos approaches graduation day in May, excitement mixes with a twinge of uncertainty.

“It’s a little scary,” she admits. “Actually facing the reality that I’m going to be done with school in a month—I don’t know what’s going to happen after.”

It’s a feeling many graduating college students likely share, but for Mendoza Frutos, getting to the finish line didn’t follow a traditional, linear route. Instead, by her own account, it’s been a journey marked by stops and starts, academic setbacks and personal loss, but also one ultimately shaped by resilience and the realization that it’s OK to ask for help.

For Valeria Mendoza Frutos, the road to graduation next month had been a journey marked by stops and starts, academic setbacks and personal loss, but also one ultimately shaped by resilience and the realization that it’s OK to ask for help.

Feeling out of place: college, COVID and self-doubt

Mendoza Frutos first arrived at the University of Colorado Boulder in Fall 2020—during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her introduction to college life was different than what she had imagined. Most classes were taught remotely, she and other students were housed in hotel rooms rather than dorms and the sense of community she hoped to find was largely absent.

“It was a very weird semester,” she recalls. “Most of my classes were online and everything just felt off.”

What’s more, after graduating from KIPP Northeast Leadership Academy, a small, tightknit high school in northeast Denver with a graduating class of about 80 students—many of whom were Hispanic—the transition to a large, predominantly white institution felt overwhelming at times.

“I felt like I didn’t belong,” she says. “Being Hispanic and surrounded by mostly white students was a huge change for me. There was that voice in my head telling me, ‘You don’t belong here.’”

That sense of not belonging followed her into the classroom. Even when professors encouraged participation, Mendoza Frutos says she struggled with self-confidence. “They would always say ‘there is no such thing as a dumb question,’ but I never believed that,” she says.

Outside of school, Mendoza Frutos’s life was equally complicated. After her first year at 91��ý, she decided to move back home and commute to college. A self-described “mom’s girl,” she was deeply involved in helping raise her younger siblings while her mother worked.

“People laugh,” she says, “but I tell my mom I see her more like my partner, because I was the one at home helping raise my brother and sister.”

Family demands, financial pressures, the challenges of balancing work and school and the stress of commuting all weighed heavily upon her, and her grades suffered, leading to academic probation. Then came a devastating personal loss: the death of her beloved grandmother in 2022.

“I just lost it,” she says. “I was going through a lot and that was the semester I had all Fs.”

As grief took its toll, Mendoza Frutos stepped away from college altogether. For nearly a year, she wasn’t sure she would ever return.

“I think in my head I was like, ‘I’ll go back one day,’” she says, ‘but it took a lot for me to understand that I needed help.”

‘It’s OK to accept help’

That help arrived unexpectedly in early 2024, when Mendoza Frutos received an email from Ann Herrmann, program manager and advisor for Finish What You Started, a federal initiative designed to support students who paused their education and wanted to return that was administered at 91��ý by the Division of Continuing Education (see related story below/at right/at left). Herrmann had reviewed Mendoza Frutos’s academic profile and reached out with a simple but powerful message: Help was available.

Valeria Mendoza Frutos (center, white dress) with her family.

“At first, I wasn’t sure,” Mendoza Frutos recalls. “But we met and I told her everything I had been through. She didn’t judge me; she just helped me figure out a path forward.”

Herrmann helped Mendoza Frutos withdraw from classes she previously started but had not completed, which were hurting her GPA, and worked with her to rebuild a realistic academic plan. Soon after, Mendoza Frutos was paired with Michelle Pagnani, a senior academic and career coach for Finish What You Started.

Although hesitant at first—“I kind of ghosted her a few times,” Mendoza Frutos admits, but adds that Pagnani’s persistence made the difference. “She was always calling me, like, ‘Hey, when do you want to reschedule?’”

Over time, the relationship grew into one of trust and encouragement. “Now me and Michelle and me and Ann have a really good bond,” she adds.

With their guidance, Mendoza Frutos returned to school step by step—starting with summer classes, then fall, then continuing forward. If coursework ever became overwhelming or life intervened, she says Pagnani and Herrmann were there to offer assistance. And for the first time, she says, she felt supported not just academically, but personally.

“I realized it’s OK to accept help,” she says. “It doesn’t make you less than; it just makes your journey easier. That’s what the program did for me.

“Being a first-generation college student made it harder. I didn’t really have anyone guiding me before, but Ann and Michelle gave me the support I needed.”

Advancing in school and at work

While rebuilding her academic life, Mendoza Frutos was also building her career. In February 2024, she began working as an intake specialist for the Frank Azar law practice, fielding calls from clients and potential clients, after connecting with the company at a LinkedIn job fair.

Mendoza Frutos says the work required accuracy, empathy and strong communication skills. She says her bilingual skills became an asset almost immediately, as being able to connect with Spanish-speaking clients helped the firm respond faster and build trust.

CU Complete

As Finish What You Started winds down, its success is informing a redesigned and expanded effort: CU Complete. This successor program aims to carry forward the most effective elements of FWYS while creating a longer-term, institutionally funded model for degree completion.

Learn more

Despite juggling a full-time job with a demanding courseload, her dedication stood out. The firm closely tracks performance metrics including contracts sent, follow-through and client satisfaction—all of which she excelled in. As a result, after about a year on the job, Mendoza Frutos was promoted to the role of investigator, which she attributes to her strong work ethic.

“I’m very dedicated and passionate when I like something—and I really enjoy my job. I like learning and there’s always something new to learn at work,” she says. “This job feels very fulfilling.”

Equally important was how her employer supported her as a student—something she had not experienced before. Mendoza Frutos says she left a previous job after it would not accommodate her schedule once she planned to return to campus to complete her degree.

When she asked her current employer if they could temporarily reduce her work hours so she could concentrate on finishing college, they accommodated her, she says, adding that flexibility has allowed her to succeed in both school and work.

Today, Mendoza Frutos is completing a degree in Spanish for health professions, with a certificate in health resilience. For now, she plans to continue working for the law firm after graduation, where she sees opportunity for growth and advancement.

At the same time, the idea of attending law school—once unimaginable—now feels possible. That shift came during a quiet moment with Pagnani, who once casually guided Mendoza Frutos into the Wolf Law Building under the guise of taking a campus walk.

“I didn’t finish alone. And now I know—I don’t have to do everything by myself.”

“She didn’t tell me her plan,” Mendoza Frutos says, laughing. “But standing there, getting information, I realized that someone outside my family believes I could do this.”

For a first-generation student who once felt invisible, that belief mattered.

“It made me very emotional,” she says. “It was like, damn—you really do care about me.”

Looking ahead: moving forward

In May, Mendoza Frutos will walk across the graduation stage with family in attendance, including relatives traveling from Texas. Her mother is even planning a graduation party. It will mark not just the completion of a degree, but a journey defined by resilience, growth and the power of support.

Looking back, Mendoza Frutos is clear about one thing: Without Finish What You Started, she would not be graduating. “If it wasn’t for that email, I wouldn’t be here.”

There are many beneficial programs on campus, Mendoza Frutos notes, but it’s the people behind them that make the difference. “I’m very lucky to have Ann and Michelle,” she says. “They really care.”

As she looks toward the future—continuing in her career and possibly pursuing law school one day—Mendoza Frutos carries a hard-won lesson.

“I didn’t finish alone,” she says. “And now I know—I don’t have to do everything by myself.”

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Against the odds, 91��ý student Valeria Mendoza Frutos prepares to graduate in May, thanks in part to the Division of Continuing Education’s Finish What You Started program.

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All photos courtesy Valeria Mendoza Frutos

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