Colorado § 24-48.5-502 - Universal high school scholarship program - established - administration - cash fund - eligibility - transfers.

§ 24-48.5-502. Universal high school scholarship program - established - administration - cash fund - eligibility - transfers.

(1) (a) There is established in the office the universal high school scholarship program to provide scholarships that offset a student's costs associated with postsecondary education, a registered apprenticeship, or training or education related to an in-demand or high-priority postsecondary pathway, at a service provider.

(b) The office shall administer the program or may contract with one or more vendors to administer the program. The office or vendor shall:

(I) Manage a statewide scholarship application process and all related functions, including screening for student eligibility;

(II) Award scholarships for the 2024-25 academic year to eligible students as described in section 24-48.5-503 and distribute the scholarship money to the service provider that has enrolled the student for postsecondary education or accepted the student for training;

(III) Manage a statewide communications campaign in partnership with regional entities to advertise the program, recruit applicants, and provide technical support to students applying for a scholarship or navigating postsecondary options;

(IV) Verify student enrollment by collecting a report from each service provider on the status of every scholarship recipient in the provider's program of study, which must include whether each student completed the program of study, transferred to another service provider, dropped out of or remains enrolled in the program of study, or has another status identified by the office, and any other information requested by the office, which must, where available, include demographic information about scholarship recipients; and

(V) Monitor, or contract with a vendor to monitor, service providers to ensure that service providers comply with all program rules and requirements.

(2) (a) The office shall develop policies and procedures necessary to administer the program. The policies and procedures must include:

(I) An application process and deadlines, criteria for identifying scholarship recipients in accordance with the award priorities described in section 24-48.5-503 (1)(a), and a schedule for awarding scholarships and distributing scholarship money;

(II) Guidelines for determining the amount of each scholarship award;

(III) A list of entities identified by the regional talent development initiative grant program described in part 4 of this article 48.5 that the office determines are service providers pursuant to subsection (2)(c) of this section; and

(IV) A list of in-demand or high-priority postsecondary pathways.

(b) The office shall identify postsecondary pathways that are in-demand or high-priority, both statewide and in specific regions of the state. In determining in-demand or high-priority postsecondary pathways, the office shall consider the top jobs listed in the most recent Colorado talent report prepared pursuant to section 24-46.3-103 and the most recent version of the statewide and regional top jobs list published by the Colorado department of higher education.

(c) The office shall establish a process to review and approve as service providers organizations that are not a public or private institution of higher education operating in Colorado and are not included in the eligible training provider lists or the Colorado state apprenticeship resource directory. In order to be approved as a service provider, an organization must be identified by a regional entity and offer programs for in-demand or high-priority postsecondary pathways.

(3) (a) The universal high school scholarship cash fund, referred to in this subsection (3) as the "cash fund", is created in the state treasury. The cash fund consists of money transferred to the cash fund pursuant to subsection (3)(b) of this section and any other money that the general assembly may appropriate or transfer to the cash fund. In accordance with section 24-36-114 (1), the state treasurer shall credit all interest and income derived from the deposit and investment of money in the cash fund to the general fund. Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the office may expend money from the cash fund for purposes of this part 5.

(b) On September 1, 2023, the state treasurer shall transfer twenty-five million dollars from the general fund to the cash fund.

(b.5) On July 1, 2025, the state treasurer shall transfer three million three hundred four thousand five hundred dollars from the cash fund to the general fund.

(b.7) On June 30, 2026, the state treasurer shall transfer nine hundred thousand dollars from the cash fund to the Colorado economic development fund, created in section 24-46-105 (1)(a).

(b.8) On June 30, 2026, the state treasurer shall transfer two million six hundred thousand dollars from the cash fund to the general fund.

(c) The state treasurer shall transfer all unexpended and unencumbered money in the cash fund on June 30, 2027, to the general fund.

(d) For state fiscal year 2023-24, the general assembly shall appropriate twenty-five million dollars from the cash fund for the program. Any unexpended or unencumbered money appropriated pursuant to this subsection (3)(d) remains available for expenditure for the same purpose in the 2025-26 state fiscal year without further appropriation. Except as otherwise permitted in this subsection (3), the office shall use the money for scholarship awards.

(e) The office shall use two million five hundred thousand dollars of the money appropriated for the program for postsecondary and career advising as described in section 24-48.5-504.

(f) Expenditures for the administrative costs of the program must not exceed one million five hundred thousand dollars.

(4) A student is eligible for a scholarship if the student:

(a) During the 2023-24 academic year, graduated from a Colorado high school or was awarded a high school equivalency credential awarded by the Colorado department of education;

(b) Is a degree-seeking student who completes the free application for federal student aid or the Colorado application for state financial aid; except that the office shall waive the requirement of completing the free application for federal student aid or the Colorado application for state financial aid if the degree-seeking student attests that the student is unable to meet this requirement; and

(c) Repealed.

(d) Submits an application for a scholarship pursuant to the program.

(5) (a) Scholarship money may only be used at a service provider.

(b) A service provider shall comply with the program policies and procedures and with all reporting requirements described in this section. A service provider shall submit to monitoring by the office or vendor conducted pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section.

(c) The office, or a vendor contracted to administer the program, may remove service providers from the scholarship if the service provider is determined to be out of compliance with program rules and requirements.

Source: L. 2023: Entire part added, (SB 23-205), ch. 200, p. 1023, § 2, effective August 7. L. 2024: (1)(b)(V), (4)(a), (4)(b), and (5)(b) amended and (4)(c) repealed, (HB 24-1365), ch. 478, p. 3347, § 4, effective August 7. L. 2025: (3)(b.5) added, (SB 25-264), ch. 129, p. 504, § 27, effective April 25; (3)(c), (3)(d), and (3)(f) amended, (HB 25-1186), ch. 318, p. 1668, § 5, effective August 6. L. 2026: (3)(b.7) and (3)(b.8) added, (HB 26-1416), ch. 368, p. 2234, § 2, effective June 3.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 24-1365, see section 1 of chapter 478, Session Laws of Colorado 2024. For the legislative declaration in HB 25-1186, see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2025. For the legislative declaration in HB 26-1416, see section 1 of chapter 368, Session Laws of Colorado 2026.