This amendment stops the state from giving financial aid or work-study money to private and nonpublic colleges for one year, starting in July 2026.
Colorado2026Enacted
HB26-1345
Changes to How State Colleges Get Money
Last scannedAug 24, 2026, 8:22 AM
In one sentence
This law changes how money is calculated for public colleges starting in the 2027-28 school year and stops funding certain programs at private schools during the 2026-27 school year.
What it does
- Renames 'performance funding' to 'results-informed funding'.
- Updates definitions for terms like graduation rates, retention rates, and student transfers used in money calculations.
- Removes rules that required calculating different parts of the funding formula in a specific order.
- Stops giving financial aid or work-study money from state funds to private colleges during the 2026-27 school year.
- Creates new definitions for programs where students take classes at one college but finish their degree at another nearby partner.
Who it affects
- Public institutions of higher education in Colorado
- The Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Higher Education
- Private, nonpublic, or proprietary colleges during the 2026-27 school year
Limits and unknowns
- The changes to how funding is calculated only begin on July 1, 2027.
- The ban on sending money to private colleges applies only to the 2026-27 school year.
- Students in co-located degree partnerships are not counted when calculating graduation rates for these schools.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Results-informed funding
- The new name for money given to schools based on how well they perform in areas like graduation and retention.
- Co-located degree partnership
- A program where a student starts at one college but finishes their degree at another partner school while mostly staying on the first campus.
- Retention rate
- The percentage of students who start in the fall and return to the same school for their second year or finish early.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
The act changes the higher education funding provisions, effective for the 2027-28 state fiscal year. Under current law, a state institution of higher education's governing board's annual fee-for-service contract includes funding calculated based on 3 components: Ongoing additional funding, performance funding, and temporary additional funding. The act: Changes the name of the funding from 'performance funding' to 'results-informed funding'; Redefines terms and metrics that are used to determine results-informed funding; and Reorders the components and eliminates current statutory language that requires sequential calculation of the components. For the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the act prohibits the commission on higher education from allocating money to nonpublic institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, or proprietary institutions of higher education for it students under a financial assistance program or a work-study program. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Official activity
Bill history
- Governor SignedGovernor
- Sent to the GovernorGovernor
- Signed by the President of the SenateSenate
- Signed by the Speaker of the HouseHouse
- House Considered Senate Amendments - Result was to Concur - RepassHouse
- Senate Third Reading Passed - No AmendmentsSenate
- Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - CommitteeSenate
- Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the WholeSenate
- Introduced In Senate - Assigned to EducationSenate
- House Third Reading Passed - No AmendmentsHouse
- House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No AmendmentsHouse
- House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No AmendmentsHouse
- House Committee on Education Refer Unamended to House Committee of the WholeHouse
- Introduced In House - Assigned to EducationHouse
Changes
Amendments
1 stored