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Office of Sen.

Mike Johnston
Colorado General Assembly | 200 E. Colfax Avenue | Denver, CO 80203 | 303.866.4864

SB 13-033 Advancing Students for a Stronger Economy Tomorrow (ASSET)


Fact Sheet
What It Does Requires institutions of higher education in Colorado to classify a student as an in-state student for tuition purposes if the student meets the following criteria: o They have attended a Colorado high school for a minimum of THREE years and graduated or earned a general equivalency diploma (GED). o They have applied and been admitted to a Colorado institution of higher education within one year of graduating or earning a GED. o They submit an affidavit to the institution of higher education stating that they are in the process of applying for lawful presence or will apply as soon as he or she is able to do so. Makes undocumented students eligible for the college opportunity fund stipend and allows colleges, universities and other private financial aid programs to make available institutional or other financial aid to undocumented students. Creates an exception to the requirement of admission to an institution of higher education within 12 months for students who either graduated or completed a GED prior to September 1, 2013 and who have been continuously present in Colorado for 18 months prior to enrolling in an institution. Makes no separate appropriation of state moneys to carry out the act, since the General Assembly has determined that this act can be implemented with existing appropriations. Tuition Rates at Colorado Colleges and Universities 2011-2012 (Latest Year Available) Annual Tuition Rates Two Semesters of 30 Credit Hours (60 Credit Hours Total) In-State Tuition Rate Out-of-State Higher Education Institution including COF Subsidy Tuition Rate of $62/hr Colorado Mountain College $ 1,770 $ 8,550 Aims Community College $ 2,512 $ 12,700 Metro College of Denver $ 4,834 $ 15,690 Western State $ 5,504 $ 15,118 Fort Lewis College $ 5,592 $ 17,626 Adams State $ 5,895 $ 16,143 CSU Pueblo $ 6,269 $ 16,971 Colorado Mesa University $ 6,548 $ 16,726 University of Northern Colorado $ 6,624 $ 18,146 University of CO Denver $ 7,702 $ 22,064 University of CO Colorado Springs $ 7,894 $ 17,414 Colorado State University $ 8,042 $ 23,742 University of Colorado - Boulder $ 9,152 $ 30,330 Colorado School of Mines $ 14,454 $ 29,139

Why We Need It Undocumented students who have graduated from our high schools and have benefited from our investment in K-12 education are forced to pay out-of-state tuition, a prohibitive expense that most cannot afford. This essentially means Coloradans are not receiving a return on our investment, because these students are not enrolling in college or are moving out-of-state. College graduates are less likely to be caught in a cycle of poverty. Students with a college degree are more productive and civically engaged, they contribute more to the state tax base and are less likely to end up in the corrections system. A RAND Corporation study estimated that a 30-year-old immigrant who graduates from college provides a $9,000 net annual benefit to the state through increased economic contributions and tax revenues, and decreased reliance on public services.1 For the thousands of students currently in line to become citizens, allowing them to pay in-state tuition helps guarantee an educated workforce once they attain citizenship. Some of our best and brightest students are not yet Americans through no fault of their own and they deserve to have access to an affordable college education. Their families pay taxes, and they have worked hard to be a good student and get accepted to college. The vast majority of undocumented students who would be eligible for in-state tuition do not currently attend college or attend classes part-time due to the exorbitant cost of out-of-state tuition. Adding these students as full-time students will raise millions of dollars in additional tuition revenue for Colorados financially-strapped colleges and universities. What Other States are Doing Currently, 13 states allow in-state tuition for undocumented students, including Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, California, Washington, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and New York. Other states, like California, New Mexico and Texas, have gone even farther and provide undocumented students with in-state tuition and access to financial aid. Initial trends prove that in-state tuition is having a positive impact on the dropout rates of Latino high school students and on the number of Latino students enrolling in post-secondary programs.2 For example, Kansas experienced its lowest-ever dropout rate amongst Hispanic students in the year following passage of a similar bill. 3 Furthermore, states that have enacted tuition equity legislation have increased the revenue to their public institutions of higher learning.4 In 2009, Texas colleges and universities received $27.2 million in tuition and fees from undocumented students.5

Vernez, G., Krop, R. A., & Rydell, C. P. Closing the Education Gap: Benefits and Costs. Center for Research on Immigration Policy. Washington: RAND, 1999. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1036.html 2 Elise A. Keaton, Center for Policy Entrepreneurship, Tuition Equity Legislation: Investing in Colorado High School Graduates through Equal Opportunity to Postsecondary Education, 31 (Sept. 2008), http://www.c-pe.org/documents/CPETuitionEquityReport.pdf. 3 The Tuition Equity Effect, http://www.heaacolorado.org/download/HEAA_TuitionEquityReport2.pdf, 15. 4 Id, 27-29. 5 Stoptexassetasides.org, Overview: Texas Resident Status in Higher Education, (last visited January 22, 2012), http://stoptexassetasides.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/OverviewResidencyInStateTuition_REVISED.pdf

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