An environmental assessment for postsecondary education planning by the Colorado Commission on Higher Education is presented, with a focus on emergent issues and trends in education, and demographic and economic forecasts to the year 2000. Demographic issues include: population size and distribution, age shifts, race and ethnicity, and population mobility and migration. Information is included on: 1980 census enrollment counts for Colorado for nursery school through high school versus postsecondary school, and by sector (public and private); enrollment counts for Coloradans, age 19 and older, in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas; and regional distinctions in enrollment. Also considered are the following issues and trends in public postsecondary education: equity considerations, performance expectations, levels and types of services, needs for long-range planning, funding for public goods, public willingness to invest in postsecondary education, and support from within education. Data are included on: actual and projected population growth, 1970-2000; projected population counts by ethnic group, 1980-2010; and occupational distribution of Colorado civilian nonagricultural employment, 1975, 1985, 1995. (SW)