House Bill 14-1384 Summary

• Creates the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative within the Department of Higher Education to award scholarships and grants based on rigor-based methods emphasizing academic achievement and workforce placement.

• Establishes the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative Advisory Board composed of the Executive Committee of the State Workforce Development Council plus three governor-appointed representatives from four-year research institutions, four-year postsecondary institutions, and community colleges.

• Creates the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative Fund in the state treasury funded by general fund appropriations, private donations, and gifts; limits administrative costs to 3 percent of fund moneys annually.

• Requires the fund to allocate no more than 10 percent of annual moneys to state agencies and nonprofits for student support services, with at least 70 percent of those funds going to nongovernmental entities; remaining moneys build a financial corpus for tuition assistance grants.

• Appropriates $1,000,000 from the general fund for fiscal year 2014-2015 to implement the initiative; takes effect August 6, 2014, unless subject to voter approval through a referendum petition filed within 90 days of adjournment.