One of the major programs available to Colorado college students, the College Opportunity Fund, has made little impact on Colorado students, according to a 2011 article in The Colorado Independent.
The article cited a 2009 evaluation of the program by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education which found that the program had not been successful in increasing enrollment in participating schools and had instead corresponded with a decline in enrollment in higher education.
The College Opportunity Fund is designed to provide a stipend directly to eligible undergraduate students based on their credit hours. Each year, the amount of per credit hour funding is determined by the state legislature, and the funding for participating private universities is half that of participating public institutions.
In the 2016-2017 school year, the COF awarded $75 per credit hour to qualifying students at participating public universities and $38 per credit hour at participating private universities, according to the College Opportunity Fund website.
Photo by Laura Scudder: The campus of University of Colorado Boulder, a public college at which COF stipend credit is available
As programs such as the COF attempt to lessen the financial burden of higher education, the problem of college accessibility has shifted the national conversation to free university. “Education should be accessible to all,” said American University student Elizabeth Morton, “and making education more affordable or free would be a good way to do that, but I’m not sure how viable that is under the current political climate.” Parent and educator Kim Kinner expressed similar views, saying “Free education is a great thing, but someone has to pay for it.”
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average cost of attending a four-year college in Colorado is $19,487.32 per year. A 2016 report by the Colorado Department of Higher Education found that 55.8% of the high school graduating class of 2014 were enrolled in a postsecondary institution immediately after graduation.
Additionally, the report included a 2013 statistic which estimated that by 2020, 74% of Colorado jobs will require some form of postsecondary education.