Colorado § 23-3.3-1004 - Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board - created - duties - rules.

§ 23-3.3-1004. Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board - created - duties - rules.

(1) (a) There is created the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board, which consists of fifteen members appointed as follows:

(I) Seven persons to be appointed jointly by the executive director of the department of labor and employment or his or her designee and the executive director of the department of higher education or his or her designee, including:

(A) One person representing the four-year research institutions of higher education in the state;

(B) One person representing a four-year postsecondary institution in the state;

(C) One person representing the community colleges and area technical colleges of the state;

(D) One person representing workforce centers;

(E) One person representing economic development corporations;

(F) One person who is a current or former participant of the initiative for a two-year public institution of higher education; and

(G) One person who is a current or former participant of the initiative for a four-year public institution of higher education; and

(II) Four persons from the state work force development council created in section 24-46.3-101, to be appointed by the executive director of the department of labor and employment or his or her designee; and

(III) Four persons, either commissioners of the Colorado commission on higher education created in section 23-1-102, members of the advisory committee to the Colorado commission on higher education created in section 23-1-103, or any combination thereof, to be appointed by the executive director of the department of higher education or his or her designee.

(b) Repealed.

(2) The members of the board shall elect presiding officers for the board, including a chair and vice-chair, from among the board members appointed pursuant to subsection (1)(a) of this section, which presiding officers shall serve terms of two years. Board members may reelect a presiding officer.

(3) Each member of the board serves at the pleasure of the member's appointing authority for a term of four years. The appointing authority may reappoint the member for an additional term or terms. Members of the board must receive seventy-five dollars per diem for attendance at official meetings plus reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the conduct of official business; except that a member shall not receive the per diem allowance provided for in this subsection (3) if the member receives a salary from the state for a full-time position with the state.

(4) The board shall meet at least four times each year and shall carry out the following duties:

(a) Promulgate rules for administration of the initiative, including but not limited to the following:

(I) Criteria for eligibility of state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions of higher education to participate in the initiative;

(II) Criteria for eligibility of students to apply for and receive grants from the initiative, which criteria shall include consideration of an applicant student's:

(A) Courses of study;

(B) Commitment to academic achievement;

(C) Work experience;

(D) Community involvement; and

(E) Extracurricular activities;

(III) Rules establishing permissible uses of grant and scholarship money from the initiative, which rules must stipulate that:

(A) A portion of the money in the fund in any fiscal year may be awarded to state agencies and nonprofit organizations to assist such agencies and organizations with ensuring that student-success, precollegiate, postsecondary student support services are available to students who are classified as Colorado residents for tuition purposes; increasing the capacity for student support services at postsecondary institutions; and developing connections between local employers, public schools, precollegiate organizations, and postsecondary institutions;

(B) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2020.)

(C) Any money appropriated to the fund that is not used for the purposes described in subsection (4)(a)(III)(A) of this section, to pay the direct and indirect costs of administering the initiative as described in section 23-3.3-1005 (4), or as otherwise provided in sections 23-3.3-1006 and 23-3.3-1007, must be used to build a financial corpus capable of providing financial assistance to eligible Colorado students in Colorado who will attend eligible institutions of higher education within the state. Financial assistance provided pursuant to this subsection (4)(a)(III)(C) may take the form of direct awards, matching incentives to create or increase the number of other scholarships, loans, or any combination thereof.

(D) To the extent practicable, grants of financial assistance must be awarded to students representing rural and urban areas of the state and to students attending area technical colleges, community colleges, four-year institutions of higher education, and research institutions;

(E) To the extent practicable, financial assistance must be evenly distributed between students with an expected family contribution of less than one hundred percent of the annual federal PELL grant award and students with an expected family contribution between one hundred percent and two hundred fifty percent of the annual federal PELL grant award; and

(F) To the extent practicable, grant and scholarship money may be used for work-based learning;

(IV) Criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of the initiative in improving higher education outcomes in the state, which criteria must include, but need not be limited to:

(A) Reductions in remediation rates and associated costs;

(B) Increases in graduation rates;

(C) Reductions in average time required to earn a degree;

(D) Increases in student retention rates;

(E) Reductions in disparities between the academic achievements of certain student populations based on demographic, geographic, and economic indicators;

(F) Adoption of best practices for student support services;

(G) Fulfillment of local workforce needs;

(H) Reductions in student loan debt;

(I) Improvements in tuition affordability; and

(J) Improvements in students' access to federal grant programs and other federal sources of support for postsecondary students;

(b) Identify and consider the feasibility of potential funding sources for the initiative, including but not limited to:

(I) The implementation of an income tax credit for taxpayers of the state who elect to make a contribution to the fund; and

(II) Any fundraising for the initiative that may result from a memorandum of understanding executed between the board and a nonprofit organization, as described in subsection (5) of this section; and

(c) Prepare and submit an annual report concerning the initiative to the director. The director shall post the annual report on the department's website or appropriate online location, and, notwithstanding the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I) to the contrary, shall send the annual report to the members of the education committees of the house of representatives and of the senate, or any successor committees.

(5) The board may enter into a memorandum of understanding with a nonprofit organization for the purpose of raising moneys for the initiative.

Source: L. 2014: Entire part added, (HB 14-1384), ch. 347, p. 1556, § 1, effective August 6. L. 2016: (4)(a)(III)(C) amended, (SB 16-189), ch. 210, p. 765, § 43, effective June 6; (4)(a)(III)(D) amended, (HB 16-1082), ch. 58, p. 153, § 46, effective August 10. L. 2020: IP(4), (4)(a)(III), and (4)(c) amended, (SB 20-006), ch. 26, p. 94, § 3, effective September 14. L. 2021: (1), (2), and (3) amended, (SB 21-179), ch. 114, p. 444, § 1, effective May 7; (4)(a)(III)(C) amended, (HB 21-1330), ch. 377, p. 2494, § 3, effective June 29. L. 2022: IP(4), (4)(a)(III)(D), and (4)(a)(III)(E) amended and (4)(a)(III)(F) added, (SB 22-140), ch. 357, p. 2565, § 17, effective July 1.

Editor's note: Subsection (1)(b)(III) provided for the repeal of subsection (1)(b), effective July 1, 2025. (See L. 2021, p. 444.)

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1330, see section 1 of chapter 377, Session Laws of Colorado 2021. For the legislative declaration in SB 22-140, see section 1 of chapter 357, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.