Akio Aquino, a first-year student at FRCC, had no idea that he could get the money he borrowed through FAFSA loans reimbursed on his 2025 tax return.
Unbeknownst to him, the same month he graduated high school (May 2024), Governor Jared Polis signed HB24-1340 into law – enabling a new tuition reimbursement program.
Without knowing it, Aquino met all eligibility criteria.
Once he’d been brought up to speed, he said the program “will be helpful.”
He said it’s difficult to work, make student loan payments, and study at the same time.
He said his friends who are saving money for school might enroll earlier if they knew about the reimbursement.
Adele Morley is in her second year at FRCC. She said she hasn’t yet decided on what career she wants to pursue, but, because of the new Colorado law, this year’s tuition will be reimbursed while she figures it out. Photo by Luke Purvis
This new law also applies to second-year student Adele Morley – though she didn’t know it. She said she believes money is the biggest reason why high school graduates don’t enroll in college.
Both Morley and Aquino said they don’t know of any young person who’s heard about the program.
David Lucci, FRCC’s Financial Aid Director, said he thinks students have a very vague understanding of it.
He said the majority of questions his office receives on the topic come from high school partnership programs. He said he imagines those schools are speaking to high schoolers about it before they graduate.
When asked whether he thinks the high schools are doing a good job of informing students on this new law, he said, “I think they are on a base level, but I don’t know if they’re giving all of the criteria and all the details – which I think are very important.”
He said the responsibility to notify eligible students will likely fall on FRCC’s financial aid office.
He said it needs to collect data from 2024’s fall term to 2025’s summer term before it reports eligibility to students, and to Colorado’s Department of Education, as it will be responsible for the reimbursement.
Early notification of eligibility could be crucial, as students might miss out otherwise. Even if they meet all criteria, they must file their state taxes individually to receive the credit – which they might not do normally. Parents who claim their students as dependents do not qualify.
