Colorado Shines is Colorado's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed child care and preschool. Programs are rated on a one-to-five level scale; Levels 1 and 2 reflect licensing and training basics, while Levels 3 through 5 require independent quality assessment.
If you are comparing daycares in Colorado and keep seeing star ratings or quality levels, this guide explains what Colorado Shines actually measures, who runs it, how to look a program up, and how the rating connects to subsidy — so you can use it as one input, not the whole decision. The framework comes from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, with the federal ACF Office of Child Care setting the broader QRIS structure that states follow.
Colorado Shines is Colorado's voluntary quality rating and improvement system, known as a QRIS. Administered by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, it rates participating licensed centers and family child care homes on a one-to-five level rating. Higher ratings signal stronger staff qualifications, learning environments, and program administration, per the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
A QRIS does two jobs at once. It rates programs so families can compare them, and it improves programs by pairing each rating with coaching, training, and sometimes funding. Colorado adopted this model, like most states, with support from the federal Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) administered by the ACF Office of Child Care.
The rating climbs as a program does more than the licensing minimum. The lowest rung means the program is licensed and in good standing; Level 5 means it has met the most demanding benchmarks for teacher education, curriculum, child-to-staff ratios, and family engagement. The table below shows the dimensions the Colorado Department of Early Childhood weighs, drawn from its Colorado Shines standards.
| What the rating measures | What a higher rating looks like |
|---|---|
| Licensing & health and safety | Active license in good standing with the Colorado Department of Early Childhood; clean inspection and background-check history as the entry requirement. |
| Staff qualifications & training | Lead teachers with more early-childhood coursework, credentials, or degrees, plus ongoing professional development. |
| Learning environment & curriculum | A research-based curriculum and an independent classroom assessment (such as the ERS or CLASS observation tools). |
| Ratios & group size | Smaller groups and lower child-to-staff ratios than the licensing floor requires. |
| Family engagement & administration | Family conferences, developmental screening, and stronger business and leadership practices. |
Exact point thresholds and the number of tiers are set by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood; confirm the current Colorado Shines standards on its website, because states revise QRIS rubrics periodically.
Use the official Colorado Shines provider locator from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood to find a program's current rating, then cross-check its license status on the Colorado child care licensing search. Treat the rating as one verified data point alongside your own tour, because ratings can lag a program's real, day-to-day conditions by a year or more.
Honest tradeoff. A QRIS rating is genuinely useful, but it is voluntary and imperfect. Many excellent Colorado programs never enroll in Colorado Shines, and a rating can be a year or more behind reality. Use it to narrow your list, never to replace a visit.
The rating does not set tuition, which each program decides on its own. But in Colorado, a higher Colorado Shines rating can qualify a provider for higher subsidy reimbursement through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), a structure the ACF Office of Child Care encourages under the Child Care and Development Fund. For national context, ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report put center-based care at roughly $8,000 to $24,000 per year depending on age and state.
For Colorado-specific figures, see our daycare cost guide and estimate your own with the cost calculator. If you may qualify for help paying, the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) is the place to start.
Colorado Shines is Colorado's voluntary quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for licensed child care. Administered by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, it rates participating programs on a one-to-five level rating, with higher ratings reflecting stronger staff training, curriculum, and program management, per the federal ACF Office of Child Care.
No. Colorado Shines participation is voluntary, so an unrated daycare is not automatically low quality — it may simply have chosen not to enroll. State licensing through the Colorado Department of Early Childhood is the mandatory baseline; the QRIS rating sits on top of it.
Search the Colorado Shines provider locator published by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, then confirm the program's separate license status on the Colorado child care licensing search. Ratings can lag real conditions, so pair the rating with your own tour.
Not directly from the rating itself. Tuition is set by each program, but higher-rated providers in Colorado can qualify for higher subsidy reimbursement through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), per the ACF Office of Child Care. Center care nationally runs roughly $8,000–$24,000 per year, per ChildCare Aware of America's 2024 Price of Child Care report.
For the full picture in your state, see the Colorado daycare guide, which covers licensing, subsidy, and pre-K. Our daycare quality and safety pillar explains accreditation, ratios, and what to look for on a tour.
Comparing how other states rate quality? Read our explainers on Alabama Quality STARS, Learn & Grow, Quality First.
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