These are all of the Higher Education bills proposed in the 2018 session. Each bill has its own bill number, please use your browser search feature to find the bill you are interested in. Return to the Colorado home page to pick a different bill category.
None of the text is the opinion of Engage. Each bill's description, pros, and cons are our best effort at describing what each bill does, arguments for, and arguments against the bill. If you believe we are missing something, please contact us with your suggestion. Some of these bills have the notation that they have been sent to the chamber's "kill" committee. This means that the leadership has decided to send the bill to the State committee even though it does not belong there based on its subject matter. This committee, in both chambers, is stacked with members from "safe" districts and the idea is to kill the bill without forcing any less safe members to take a hard vote. It is possible for a bill to survive the kill committee, but it is very rare.
Each bill has been given a "magnitude" category: Major, Medium and Minor. This is a combination of the change the bill would create and the "controversy" level of the bill. Some minor bills that are extending current programs would be major changes if they were introducing something new, but the entire goal here is to allow you to better curate your time. Something uncontroversial likely to pass nearly unanimously that continues a past program may not be worth your time (and please remember, you can still read all of the minor bills!).
House
Click on the House bill title to jump to its section:
MAJOR
HB18-1086: Community College Bachelor Science Degree Nursing SIGNED
HB18-1391: Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
MEDIUM
HB18-1226: Higher Education Review Degree Program Costs and Outcomes SIGNED
HB18-1414: Higher Education Student Emergency Assistance Grants KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
MINOR
HB18-1034: Career and Technical Education Capital Grant Program KILLED IN HOUSE COMMITTEE
HB18-1048: Fort Lewis College Spending Hesperus Account SIGNED
HB18-1102: Extend District Attorney Fellowships to 18 Months KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
HB18-1300: Bachelor Nursing Completion Degree Local District College SIGNED
HB18-1366: Allow Local College District to Sell or Lease Property SIGNED
HB18-1415: Regulate Student Education Loan Servicers KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
Senate
Click on the Senate bill title to jump to its section:
MAJOR
SB18-101: Colorado State University Global Campus Student Admission Criteria SIGNED
SB18-133: Higher Education Certificate Performance Funding KILLED BY SENATE COMMITTEE
SB18-262: Higher Education Targeted Master Plan Funding SIGNED
MEDIUM
SB18-087: In-State Tuition Foreign Nationals Settled in Colorado SIGNED
SB18-206: Research Institutions Affordability for Residents SIGNED
SB18-260: Sunrise Review New Private Occupational Schools KILLED IN HOUSE COMMITTEE
MINOR
SB18-069: Enforcement Statewide Degree Transfer Agreements SIGNED
SB18-177: Private School and Private Occupational School Bonds SIGNED
HB18-1034: Career and Technical Education Capital Grant Program
Creates a career and technical education grant program in the department of labor and employment. This program will award grants to area technical colleges, school districts, and community colleges for the use of equipment, construction, or maintenance of state buildings. The program will prioritize applicants from rural parts of the state and consider each applicant’s demonstrated need.
KILLED IN HOUSE COMMITTEE
Pros
This is work that needs to be done anyway, so why not help local schools and their students in the process? This provides a true win-win situation, where students get invaluable real world experience and the state gets work it needs done.
Cons
Prioritizing rural areas discriminates against those in urban areas, who may be just as much in need as rural areas. In addition, any time you use less experienced labor you run the risk of sub-par work which may require more money to rectify. The whole thing sounds nice in theory but may cost the state more money in fixes.
HB18-1048: Fort Lewis College Spending Hesperus Account
Eliminates the requirement that spending from the account which holds the proceeds of income from the property formerly known as Fort Lewis school requires an appropriation from the general assembly.
SIGNED
Pros
This eliminates an overly cumbersome process that no longer needs to exist. If the board of trustees for the account needs to spend money, they can do it without the state legislature looking over their shoulder.
Cons
The legislature was involved in this because these were state assets and the legislature rightly determined that they should not be spent without the consent of the state’s elected representatives. This bill wrongly changes that setup.
HB18-1086: Community College Bachelor Science Degree Nursing
Allows a community college that is part of a state system of community and technical colleges to offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
SIGNED
Pros
Bachelor’s degrees in nursing are becoming more and more sought after in the field. Some employers and even states are making it a requirement. We also have a nursing shortage. The idea of having community colleges able to offer this degree is not new, other states already offer this ability to obtain the degree at far lower costs than those associated with a four-year state college like CU.
Cons
This represents mission creep for community colleges which are not setup to provide bachelor’s degrees and with good reason. This is part of how their costs stay down. In addition, it’s possible that a degree from a community college will disadvantage nurses relative to a degree from a regular four year institution.
HB18-1102: Extend District Attorney Fellowships to 18 Months
Extends current one year rural district attorney fellowships for CU and DU students to 18 months.
KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
Pros
This gives more time for these students to gain more experience and gives these rural areas more time to fulfill duties with them.
Cons
This costs the state more money. The state pays for up to six of these fellows, so six more months will require more money.
HB18-1226: Higher Education Review Degree Program Costs and Outcomes
Requires state commission on higher education to review costs and outcomes for all undergraduate degrees given at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University and present a report identifying the highest cost degrees to both students and the institutions and the lowest performing with respect to post-graduation employment and earnings.
SIGNED
Pros
With state resources devoted to higher education getting squeezed, it’s more important than ever to make sure the schools are using their funds wisely and not for duplicative or inefficient degree programs that result in poor student employment and earnings.
Cons
You cannot measure every college degree in this manner. Different professions earn at different levels, but the world still needs teachers, artists, writers, journalists, historians, and public servants. Not to mention that many undergraduate degrees are just step one for some professions where a masters level degree is required.
HB18-1300: Bachelor Nursing Completion Degree Local District College
Allows the state’s two local district colleges to offer bachelor of science degrees in nursing for students pursuing an associate degree in nursing.
SIGNED
Pros
This lines these schools up with the ability for community colleges, which they are somewhat similar to, to offer these degrees, passed by the legislature earlier this year. Bachelor’s degrees in nursing are becoming more and more sought after in the field. Some employers and even states are making it a requirement. We also have a nursing shortage. The idea of having community colleges able to offer this degree and not let these local district colleges do it doesn't make sense.
Cons
This represents mission creep for these schools which are not setup to provide bachelor’s degrees and with good reason. This is part of how their costs stay down. In addition, it’s possible that a degree from a local district college will disadvantage nurses relative to a degree from a regular four year institution or even a community college.
HB18-1366: Allow Local College District to Sell or Lease Property
Gives local college districts the ability to sell or lease district property without needing to prove it will not be needed in the foreseeable future.
SIGNED
Pros
Schools should have the flexibility to do what they need to with their property, particularly when it comes to leasing, which can get done in a manner that works around the college district’s needs.
Cons
The most important thing is that these districts have the facilities they need to operate as schools, not as real estate mavens. Current law makes sure that no district makes the mistake of disposing or otherwise making unavailable property that it is going to need. If the district doesn’t need the property, then current law already allows them to sell or lease it.
HB18-1391: Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education
Requires each institute of higher education to adopt, periodically review, and update a policy on sexual misconduct. The policy must include, at a minimum, definitions of actions consistent with federal law, confidential and non-confidential reporting options, an explanation of the role of the institution in response to a report and a violation, procedures for investigating claims that meet set criteria, prohibitions on retaliation or consideration of prior, irrelevant sexual conduct, protection from disciplinary action against a complainant or witness for policy violations that must be revealed to make the complaint, an appeal process for both the complainant and the accused. Training must be provided on awareness and prevention of sexual misconduct and the institution’s policies. All policies and trainings must be reported to the state’s department of higher education and will be posted on its website. The department will also host biannual summits on sexual misconduct and report findings to the legislature.
KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
Pros
Sexual misconduct is of course a problem throughout our society, but it is a particularly large problem on college campuses. There is no mandated standard right now in the state, institutions are free to create their own, and we cannot leave a problem like this up to every single institution to decide for itself. The bill provides protections for the accused and witnesses to encourage more reporting, as far too many cases are not reported at all. It also requires training and awareness, so that everyone on campus knows what is and is not acceptable and how to make a report if something happens. It is also clear that this is not a criminal case, which is a matter for the police to decide. This is about institutional standards and penalties. Many of the things that apply in a criminal case should not apply here because no one is being charged with a crime. Also, many of the standards required in criminal cases are high barriers in sexual misconduct cases and led to the massive underreporting problem we have now.
Cons
The bill not only applies a one-size fits all approach to every institution in the state, whether public or private, but it also stacks the deck against the defendant, which runs contrary to our established legal principles of innocent before proven guilty. Preponderance of evidence is the standard, rather than reasonable doubt. Complainants can remain confidential, denying the victim the right to confront their accuser. There is no requirement for a neutral third party arbiter (neutral to both the institution, which has an incentive to look tough on the issue, and both parties).
HB18-1414: Higher Education Student Emergency Assistance Grants
Creates an emergency grant program intended to assist eligible higher education students with financial emergencies that may require them to withdraw from school. To be eligible, a student must qualify for in-state tuition, be pursuing their first degree, meet state financial aid criteria, and have completed at least 60% of their requirements and on track to graduate within the next school year. Maximum amount a student can receive is $1,500, the total appropriation is $1,500,000.
KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
Pros
Student financial aid programs lack the flexibility to deal with sudden emergencies like unexpected medical expenses or family emergencies that can potentially derail someone’s degree forever. With the increasing importance of a higher education degree, this small amount of money can go an extremely long way in providing a trained workforce in the state and helping people improve their economic lot in life with education.
Cons
Sometime life requires tough decisions and choices. Bailing out students doesn’t help them learn the skills they are going to need to navigate the world. School financial directors are also given quite a bit of discretion as to what constitutes unexpected, exigent circumstance so the program may go beyond medical bills and car repairs and family emergencies.
HB18-1415: Regulate Student Education Loan Servicers
Requires any entity that services student education loans to be licensed by the administrator of the state’s uniform consumer credit code.
KILLED IN SENATE COMMITTEE
Pros
53% of Colorado’s students graduate with student debt, which averages $26,250. There are approximately 761,000 student loan borrowers in the state. And there are no federal standards for student loan servicing. Borrowers can encounter servicers that discourage borrower-friendly alternative payment plans, fail to respond to questions and payment processing errors, and fail to provide sufficient information to borrowers regarding payments, benefits, interest rates, and other charges. A report in March of 2017 found 124 complaints to the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in just those few weeks of 2017. Student loans are frequently sold to other companies, so it’s not like this is an area where the free market and consumer choice can make a big difference. All the bill does is make sure these loan servicers are under the same rules as any other provider of consumer credit in the state.
Cons
Student loans are not like other forms of consumer credit, there’s a lot complicated stuff going on with them, so it is not appropriate to put them under the same big umbrella as something like a car loan or credit card.
SB18-069: Enforcement Statewide Degree Transfer Agreements
For associate degree transfers (two year programs into finishing full degree at four year program), the bill requires any higher education institution that requires a student to complete additional credit hours of lower division general education courses to be responsible for the total cost of tuition for any required hours above 120.
SIGNED
Pros
While four year institutions are welcome to create their own standards for associate degree transfers, these should not be so burdensome as to saddle students with even higher costs (and likely debt).
Cons
This may give schools the incentive to design programs to fit just under this cap, even if it is not warranted academically, since the school will be on the hook for the costs.
SB18-087: In-State Tuition Foreign Nationals Settled in Colorado
Grants eligibility for in-state tuition status to refugees and special immigrants admitted to the United States under federal laws who have settled in Colorado.
*This bill has been assigned to the Senate’s “kill” committee, state affairs*
SIGNED
Pros
This only pertains to those who have legally entered this country through the refugee or similar special immigrant process. They have been torn away from their homes by conflict and war (sometimes as a result of action or inaction from the United States), are thoroughly vetted by the United States government, and deserve the in-state treatment for higher education this bill would provide.
Cons
Refugees are not citizens and thus are not in-state residents. While their circumstances are sad, there is no reason to give them preferential treatment over other non-US citizens living legally in the state.
SB18-101: Colorado State University Global Campus Student Admission Criteria
The CSU global campus is currently prohibited from admitting first-time freshmen students who reside in the state and are under 23. This law removes the restriction.
SIGNED
Pros
Traditional classroom settings are not for every would-be college student and lifting this restriction allows those that wish to pursue online education to do so. These students are already to heading to for-profit online schools which vary wildly in effectiveness. CSU global campus has received excellent marks from higher learning reviewers since its inception and keeping it away from Colorado residents to artificially help community colleges is unfair to students.
Cons
This school was designed for working adults, that’s the whole point of the restriction, which was part of the compromise in 2014 that allowed the institution to let in anyone with no college credits. This change will damage the state’s community colleges, who are the traditional source for those who are not yet ready to attend a traditional four year school, and potentially shoulder-out the working adults the school is supposed to be serving in favor of more enticing four-year student prospects.
SB18-133: Higher Education Certificate Performance Funding
Currently higher education institutions receive some state funding based on their performance, the number of degrees or certificates awarded. The amount of funding received depends on the type of degree and various other factors. This bill would put the minimum amount of performance funding for a certificate from a higher institution at 0.5 weight instead of the current 0.25 weight (same as associate’s degree, bachelor’s is 1, graduate is 1.25). The bill does not change the overall money spent on higher education, just redistributes it.
KILLED BY SENATE COMMITTEE
Pros
The complicated formula behind this funding system is too punitive to community colleges issuing certificates. As we try to make non-four year college programs a viable path for some students, this bill will help us create that more balanced work force.
Cons
This bill takes money away from already underfunded state university system, over $1 million from CSU and nearly $2 million from CU at current funding levels. That might get passed directly into higher tuition costs. Don’t support community colleges at the expense of our four year programs.
SB18-177: Private School and Private Occupational School Bonds
Currently some private occupational schools and private degree-granting schools are required to provide a bond or other form of surety that is used to facilitate transfer or reimbursement if the school closes. The department of higher education has to take possession of all records from private degree-granting schools. This bill allows the department to make a claim on the bond for reimbursement of its administrative costs only after all of the students’ needs are taken care of.
SIGNED
Pros
If there is money left over, it makes sense to use it to reimburse the state for its expenses associated with the closure.
Cons
These bonds aren't meant to give the government money and should not be used for that purpose.
SB18-206: Research Institutions Affordability for Residents
Changes the percentage requirements for state universities. From 67% to 55% of in-state students enrolled at each campus, excluding foreign students and adding an exclusion for online students. From 12% to 15% of foreign students enrolled at each campus. All institutions must continue to admit 100% of all fully qualified in-state students.
SIGNED
Pros
Our higher education institutions get much more money from out-of-state and foreign students. With the ever decreasing amount of money available from the state, it’s important for these institutions to be able admit more of these higher-fee students to continue being able to provide Colorado residents with the higher quality education they deserve. These institutions must still admit 100% of qualified in-state residents.
Cons
If we need more funding for our schools we need to fund them, not deprive Colorado residents of their lower cost in-state options, particularly those who are more borderline in terms of acceptance to schools in other states (and presumably also will have trouble with scholarships).
SB18-260: Sunrise Review New Private Occupational Schools
Requires the private occupational school board to create a sunrise review process for applications for new educational credentials or services for which the board has not previously granted approval. Until the review process is complete, the new area will not be regulated by the board. The board will submit its report to the general assembly and the state legislature will then decide if the area needs to be regulated by the board or not.
KILLED IN HOUSE COMMITTEE
Pros
Regulations should only be imposed when they are necessary to protect public interest, otherwise they are simply a series of sometimes costly hoops for everyone to jump through that actually do more harm than good. This bill simply asks the board to take a look and make sure this is going to be necessary before acting, and puts the power to act in the people’s elected representatives, not appointed bureaucrats.
Cons
This bill flows from the assumption that no real serious harm can be done while we examine these new areas and also that there is some small level of permissible fraud and/or highly substandard education. Because it is an obvious thing that fraudulent educational enterprises exist. Fraudulent enterprises in all walks of life, but we’ve decided as a society that fraud in education is so serious that it warrants preemptive action to prevent it, not after-the-fact crackdowns. In addition, we vest the ability to regulate industries outside of the state legislature for a very, very good reason: our representatives, with few exceptions, are not experts in the field. Nor do we necessarily want them to become experts in every field. They are supposed to be experts at taking in information and making big picture decisions.
SB18-262: Higher Education Targeted Master Plan Funding
Provides additional funding to higher education institutions in the state in order to reach the goals of the Colorado commission on higher education’s master plan. Institutions that take the funding must provide a plan of how they will use the funds to reach its goals: 66% statewide higher education attainment by 2025 (currently 55%), produce additional 73,500 certificates and degrees by 2025 (currently at 48,850), close racial attendance gaps so 66% is across the board attainment (29% currently for Hispanic and Native American, 33% for African American), decrease time to degree and retention (unstated final goal), decrease student debt.
SIGNED
Pros
The state has lagged badly when it comes to funding higher education and with the state’s population exploding (bringing more high school graduates with it), the need for more funding is becoming more and more acute. The reality is that in today’s economy, some sort of post high school education is becoming a near requirement for a steady job with steady income. This bill helps put on a path to achieve what we need to keep the state competitive.
Cons
Unrealistic goals should not be buttressed by throwing more money at them. This bill spends $16.5 million in year one and at least $18 million subsequently, money that we just don’t have because we have so many needs in K-12 education (large negative factor still), transportation (billions in road projects unfunded) and retirement plan insolvency (over $30 billion shortfall).