Nearly 2,000 students from 85 Western Slope high schools are on the invitation list for College Outreach’s 20th annual Colorado Western Slope College Fair, taking place Sunday on the Aspen School District campus.

More than 250 colleges and universities from across the United States and around the world will meet with students. The college fair is designed to serve students in rural Western Slope and introduce them and their families to a range of postsecondary options, helping students envision a future beyond high school.

“We encourage students to envision a future after high school, to envision that, and to see that and come to believe that you can do it and go to these workshops, believing that there is a school for you are,” said Kelly Doherty, director of College Outreach. “If you want to study art, if you want to study music, if you want to pursue military programs, there is an opportunity for where you are, so we want kids to believe they can do it.”

Freshmen through seniors are encouraged to attend the fair, which will feature admissions representatives from large state colleges, small colleges, highly selective schools and more. But it is not just reserved for students who want to pursue a four-year degree. It also welcomes two-year and arts-focused programs, and this year will feature representatives from vocational and technical education programs.

The career and technical education representatives will assist students who want to explore study options beyond a four-year degree, including internship programs, certification programs and two-year college degrees.

“I think sometimes people think we only think about highly selective, four-year colleges and universities,” said Sarah Strassburger, principal of Aspen High School. “What we want all kids to know is that there is a place where you can pursue your passion and you will be well prepared to achieve whatever you want to achieve.”

In addition to admissions representatives, the fair will host a slew of workshops on Sunday. They include workshops on school sizes, standardized testing for test-optional schools, navigating the application process as a first-generation college student, exploring out-of-state options, how to navigate college as a student-athlete, how to be an effective writing can write college essay and how to apply for financial aid. There will also be specific workshops for freshmen and sophomores, and juniors and seniors, on the steps they need to take at that level to prepare for college.

There will be workshops in Spanish for Spanish-speaking families navigating the college application process.

For students in the Aspen School District, it is an extension of their postsecondary counseling office, which provides counselors who meet regularly one-on-one with students throughout their four years at Aspen High School.

But for other Western Slope students, the scholarship is the only chance they’ll get to get a robust look at postsecondary education options.

“We are really fortunate that (at ASD) we have two counselors and a coordinator to help students apply to college, write essays, and some of that comes through funding from (the Aspen Education Foundation),” Strassburger said. “Some of these other schools on the Western Slope have one or two counselors who provide all the social, emotional, academic and college guidance, and so this is a huge benefit for those students and their families to come and get this type of guidance. of access to the workshops and all these admissions officers.”

It’s also a family affair, ASD Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said. Parents often split up to attend workshops and meet with admissions representatives with their students.

The fair is also an opportunity for college student representatives to meet Western Slope students and understand where they come from. It gives the representatives an idea of ​​what’s behind a college application, Doherty said.

“(The representatives) come here and they start to understand that we don’t have a four-year university here, so our kids are not going to win the global science fair, they can’t intern in labs with professors,” she said. “But they are able to create phenomenal opportunities outside of the home and we’re taking advantage of that here. They can see that, so when they read the students’ applications, they have a context for it.”

The college scholarship is for students who want to explore some type of learning opportunity after their high school education. It is not a job fair for students who want to work immediately after graduating. Families who wish to attend can register in advance at cwscollegeoutreach.org or at the door on Sunday.

College Outreach is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 by ASD. It provides year-round post-secondary support to Western Slope families, including seminars on art, music and drama schools, student athletes and gap years.