§ 23-3.3-105. Free Application for Federal Student Assistance – Working Group – Report – Legislative Declaration – Definition – Repeal

1. The general assembly finds that each year, Colorado students fail to claim approximately fifty million dollars in available federal and state financial aid because they do not complete the free application for federal student aid or the Colorado application for state financial aid. Most federal student aid is distributed through the federal Pell grant program, which awards individual student grants of up to six thousand four hundred ninety-five dollars per year that do not have to be repaid. The Pell grants are paid to low-income students, who are unlikely to enroll in postsecondary education if they do not complete the student aid forms. The general assembly finds, therefore, that it is necessary to convene a working group to examine strategies for increasing the rate of completion of student aid forms and thereby increase postsecondary access, matriculation, and completion.
2. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires, “student aid applications” means the free application for federal student aid and the Colorado application for student financial aid.
3. 1. There is created in the department of higher education a working group to recommend measures for increasing the number of students who, before graduating from high school, complete the student aid applications. The working group consists of thirteen members appointed by the governor as follows:
      1. Two persons employed as high school principals, one of whom is employed in a public school that is located within the geographic area of a school district that enrolls more than one thousand students and one of whom is employed in a public school that is located within the geographic area of a school district that enrolls one thousand students or fewer;
      2. A person employed as a school district superintendent;
      3. A person employed as a teacher in a public high school;
      4. A person employed as a school counselor in a public high school;
      5. A person who is a representative of an entity that advocates for immigrant communities;
      6. Three persons who represent higher education institutions, which may include students who are enrolled at a state institution of higher education and individuals employed by state institutions of higher education in enrollment management and financial aid; and
      7. Four persons who are student advocates, representatives of scholarship or other student support programs, representatives of statewide associations that represent persons working in education, or higher education researchers.
   2. The governor shall appoint the members of the working group by August 1, 2021. In appointing members of the working group the governor shall, to the extent practicable, appoint persons from all areas of the state who are representative of the demographic diversity of the state.
   3. The members of the working group serve without compensation but may receive reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in serving on the working group.
   4. The executive director of the commission shall convene the first meeting of the working group no later than August 15, 2021. At the first meeting, the members of the working group shall select from among their members a person to serve as the chair of the working group. The chair shall convene subsequent meetings of the working group as often as necessary to complete its duties pursuant to this section. The department of higher education and the department of education shall provide staff and other assistance to the working group upon request.
4. The working group shall review best practices within Colorado and in other states and the existing research concerning postsecondary credential completion to identify and recommend resources and strategies for increasing the rate of completion of the student aid applications. At a minimum, the working group shall consider:
   1. How to leverage community partnerships to increase the student aid application completion rate;
   2. Incentives and school-based supports to assist in completing student aid applications, which may include requiring completion of student aid applications for high school graduation; and
   3. Necessary legislative, regulatory, or policy changes to implement the recommended strategies.
5. On or before January 15, 2022, the working group shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations for significantly increasing the completion rate for student aid applications to the commission, the state board of education, the joint budget committee, and the education committees of the senate and the house of representatives, or any successor committees.
6. This section is repealed, effective July 1, 2022.

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (HB 21-1330), ch. 377, p. 2511, § 14, effective June 29.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 21-1330, see section 1 of chapter 377, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.