With the $3.8 billion of state aid provided by the American Rescue Plan Act, the Governor and Colorado legislature have allocated approximately $200 million towards workforce development and education. Through HB21-1330 the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) received $1.5 million to assist local education providers in implementing strategies to increase the number of students who complete a student aid application (FAFSA/CASFA) before graduating high school.
Student aid applications determine a student’s eligibility to receive financial aid in higher education, because of this, it is a critical tool to help students pay for college. However, Colorado ranks 45th in the nation for FAFSA completion amongst high school seniors with a 42% completion rate for the class of 2023. The low participation rate means that our students leave more than $42 million in federal grant dollars “on the table” annually. To address this issue, the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative awarded $2.2 million to seven Colorado school districts, supporting a total of 11 high schools, to provide college-going support and increase the number of students who complete a student aid application (FAFSA/CASFA) before graduating high school. The grant will provide funding through June 30, 2026.
- Awards
COSI awarded the 6 proposals as follows:
- Adams 14 School District - $400,000
- Animas Charter High School - $75,000
- Atlas Preparatory School - $225,000
- Colorado High School Charter Globeville Elyria Swansea (GES) - $300,000
- Colorado High School Charter Osage - $300,000
- Harrison School District 2 - $300,000
- Westminster Public Schools - $600,000
- Resources
COSI has several resources to help grantees with FAFSA/CASFA Completion, Pre-Collegiate Programming and grant administration.
FAFSA/CASFA:
- The Colorado FAFSA completion portal
- CDHE Financial Aid Resources
- CASFA: Colorado Application for State Financial Aid
Pre-Collegiate Programming:
Grant Administration:
- Monthly Reporting
CDHE SLFRF Monthly Reporting: Required Monthly Report must be submitted to COSI Team through an online form.
FMF: Monthly Reporting Support Session: These informal sessions are offered quarterly throughout the year to support grantees informally with questions, they may have regarding any monthly or quarterly reporting processes. These are not required, and no formal presentation will be provided.
- FMF: Monthly Reporting Support Session Thursday, March 28th @ 3:00 p.m.
- FMF: Monthly Reporting Support Session Thursday, June 27th at 3:00 p.m.
- Annual Reporting
Grantee must submit a performance report to CDHE following COSI’s reporting schedule as outlined here:
- August 1, 2023 - to include all terms between summer 2022 to spring 2023
- August 1, 2024 - to include all terms between summer 2023 to spring 2024
- August 1, 2025 - to include all terms between summer 2024 to spring 2025
- August 1, 2026 - to include all terms between summer 2025 to spring 2026
Reporting must be submitted through the COSI Reporting Portal which opens May 1, 2024. You can find reporting instructions and templates on the google drive.
Reporting Support Session: Date & Time Details Thursday, July 11th, 2024: 3 p.m. Zoom Wednesday, July 24th, 2023: 3 p.m. Zoom - COSI Point of Contact
Mariana Delmonte-Gladstone
Program Manager