Higher Ed Savings Account Bill Advances

A bill that would change the way higher education is financed cleared the House Education Committee last week on a 9-1 vote. HB 1336, which would create student savings accounts for higher education, is now in the House Finance Committee.

HB 1336 would establish "college and graduate opportunity savings accounts" based on the General Fund per-student subsidy currently provided directly to state colleges and universities. Students would direct their "savings account" dollars to the state college or university of their choice. Students would still have to pay tuition, although the bill would lower the cost of community college tuition by 25 percent.

As originally introduced, the bill would have created savings accounts worth about $4,000 per year that all in-state students could spend at a public school of their choice. The money would come from the state subsidy that now helps make in-state tuition less expensive. But because of the state's budget crunch, bill sponsor Keith King, R-Colorado Springs, amended the bill to leave undecided the specific amount students will receive until the legislature has a better idea how much money it can spend on higher education.