Starting next semester, qualifying FRCC students can have years of their education paid for.
The bill allowing this, HB24-1340, was signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis last May.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Angie Paccione, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE).
Most institutions have programs to help students pay for tuition, but most cap the household income at around $65,000 to $75,000. This new bill has a higher threshold for who qualifies.
Students must:
- Have a household gross income up to $90,000.
- Enroll in any college within two years of high school.
- Seek a degree or creditail.
- Submit a free application for federal or state aid – FAFSA.
- Maintain a 2.5 grade-point average.
- Complete at least six credits.
Qualifying students will receive a full tax reimbursement on their first two years of college, whether at a trade school, community college, or four-year university.
Because of the higher threshold for household income, Paccione said, “It does hit that kind of lower-middle-class” income level.
She said aid was previously unreachable for many middle-class families. This new bill changes that equation.
In a press conference with Front Page staff FRCC Vice President Rebecca Woulfe said the school sees the new law as a “positive” but she finds issues with it as well.
For students to come up with the money ahead of time, she said, “It’s almost too much to ask.”
Sophia Laderman, chief policy and research officer for CDHE, said that many lower-income students out loans, and because they would need to “front” tuition money before reimbursement, it would not “change that reality for those students.”
But, she said, “They will get the money back,” and they could use it to pay off loans.
Woulfe said that for Front Range, the bill “definitely could” have an impact on enrollment.
She said some individuals don’t want to take out loans, and that prospective students in that demographic could “potentially come here” when they wouldn’t have before.
Laderman said, “If you look at what’s necessary in our economy in Colorado, and also across the country, you really do need some sort of secondary education.”
The majority of jobs that pay a living wage, she said, require degrees or certificates.
Asked about what she would tell a high school student who’s on the fence about college, she said, “Go for it. Push through. It really can make such a big difference for your life.”
“I think in many cases,” she said, “there’s a perception that higher ed is unaffordable, and especially for public institutions, it may be a lot more affordable than you think.”
