(1) There is created the Colorado opportunity scholarship initiative advisory board, which shall consist of the executive committee of the state work force development council created in section 24-46.3-101, C.R.S., as described in the bylaws of the council, as well as the following three persons, to be appointed by the governor or his or her designee:
One person representing the four-year research institutions of higher education in thestate;
One person representing the system of four-year postsecondary institutions in thestate; and
One person representing the community colleges and area vocational districts of thestate.
The governor or his or her designee shall make his or her appointments to the boardon or before August 1, 2014. 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) of this section, which presiding officers shall serve terms of two years. Board members may reelect a presiding officer.
Each member of the board appointed by the governor or his or her designee shallserve at the pleasure of the governor or his or her designee for a term of four years. The governor or his or her designee may reappoint the member for an additional term or terms. Members of the board shall serve without compensation.
The board shall hold its first meeting on or before November 1, 2014, at a time andplace to be designated by the executive director or by the executive director's designee. 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:
Criteria for eligibility of state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and public institutions of higher education to participate in the initiative;
Criteria for eligibility of students to apply for and receive grants from the initiative,which criteria shall include consideration of an applicant student's:
Courses of study;
Commitment to academic achievement;
Work experience;
Community involvement; and
Extracurricular activities;
(III) Rules establishing permissible uses of grant and scholarship money from the initiative, which rules must stipulate that:
A portion of the money in the fund in any fiscal year may be awarded to stateagencies 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;
(Deleted by amendment, L. 2020.)
Any money appropriated to the fund that is not used for the purposes described insubsection (4)(a)(III)(A) of this section, or to pay the direct and indirect costs of administering the initiative as described in section 23-3.3-1005 (4), 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.
To the extent practicable, grants of financial assistance must be awarded to studentsrepresenting 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; and
To the extent practicable, financial assistance must be evenly distributed betweenstudents 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;
(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;
Reductions in average time required to earn a degree;
Increases in student retention rates;
Reductions in disparities between the academic achievements of certain student populations based on demographic, geographic, and economic indicators;
Adoption of best practices for student support services;
Fulfillment of local workforce needs;
Reductions in student loan debt;
Improvements in tuition affordability; and
Improvements in students' access to federal grant programs and other federal sourcesof support for postsecondary students;
(b) Identify and consider the feasibility of potential funding sources for the initiative, including but not limited to:
The implementation of an income tax credit for taxpayers of the state who elect tomake a contribution to the fund; and
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.