1. How much
are student stipends worth?
Stipends
are tied to the number of credit hours a student takes. Every year,
Colorado's Legislature will determine the year's per-credit-hour stipend
amount. A student's stipends are capped at a lifetime total of 145
credit hours, with some exceptions.
2. Do students
need to apply for stipends?
Absolutely. If
a student doesn't apply for the stipend, he or she will have to pay
the amount that would have been covered by the stipend plus the tuition
not paid by the stipend. Students can apply for stipends at the College
Opportunity Fund Web site, https://cof.college-access.net/cofapp.
There is a link to this site through the Metro State Admissions Web
site at http://www.mscd.edu/admissions.htm.
3. Do students
receive the money directly?
No. The College
Access Network (formerly called the Colorado Student Loan Program)
will disburse stipend amounts directly to a student's college of choice.
4. Do stipends
reduce the amount of money students will spend on college?
No. The College
Opportunity Fund is a new way for the state to make its higher education
allocations. It replaces the way higher education institutions currently
receive money from the state, which is in the form of a general fund
subsidy based on a full-time equivalent student formula. In effect,
the new stipends allow students to vote with their stipend dollars,
funding the schools where they will study.
5. If students
don't receive a financial benefit from the College Opportunity Fund,
what's the point?
The College Opportunity
Fund empowers students to direct their share of state funding to the
college or university in which they enroll. Plus, the publicity surrounding
the program is designed to promote higher education to under-served
students.
This is also
a way for the state to distribute higher education funds based on
matriculation and retention. It puts the onus on Colorado colleges
and universities to attract and retain students.
6. How is
Metro State preparing to deal with the College Opportunity Fund?
Metro established
an Institutional Task Force, which includes representatives from Information
Technology, the student body, Institutional Research, Accounting Services,
Academic Affairs, the Registrar, Admissions, Financial Aid and College
Communications, to accommodate the College Opportunity Fund. The Task
Force is chaired by Natalie Lutes, interim vice president for administration
and finance.
In addition,
a subcommittee of the Institutional Task Force, chaired by Interim
Assistant Vice President Cathy Lucas, has been created to work on
communication-related issues, especially communicating these changes
to students.
And from a technical
standpoint, Metro is managing the customization of Banner to handle
the College Opportunity Fund for all state schools that use the system.
7. What can
I do to help students deal with the COF?
Let students
know that they must apply to receive a stipend. Tell students to visit
the Metro State Admissions Web site at www.mscd.edu/admissions.htm
and click on the link that says, "Colorado College Opportunity
Fund." This will take students to the College Access Network
site, an application and the state's most up-to-date information.
Metro is encouraging
students to apply for their COF stipend before registration for 2005
fall semester courses begins later this spring. To help students apply
online, the COF committee, with assistance from the Scholarship Center,
is sponsoring the COF Cafe Jan. 18-19 on the first floor of Central
Classroom. All Colorado resident Metro students will be offered a
free latte, chai tea or hot chocolate if they apply then and there.
