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After federal cuts to colleges and universities that enroll high percentages of students of color, Colorado lawmakers want to create a new state designation that would signal that certain campuses are a welcoming place for those students.
House Bill 6 sponsors state Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, a Glenwood Springs Democrat, and state Rep. Matthew Martinez, a Monte Vista Democrat, said Colorado Mountain College leaders talked to them about the idea after $350 million in federal discretionary grant funding cuts to Minority-Serving Institutions, also known as MSIs. These colleges were allowed to apply for grants because they enrolled a certain percentage of students of color, including Hispanic and Native American students.
The bill would create a Thriving Institution designation that its sponsors say would help schools attract students from diverse backgrounds, including students of color and those from low-income backgrounds. It would require schools to do more than just enroll a high percentage from these backgrounds.
An advisory committee of state, college, and business leaders would establish designation criteria, such as metrics on students’ ability to complete a degree.
The department would annually post which schools in the state earned the designation, according to the bill. Lawmakers would also receive a yearly report on the standards for the thriving institutions, as well as lessons learned by the schools to support students.
Sen. Dylan Roberts, a Frisco Democrat, also is a sponsor. The bill passed on Thursday after its first hearing in the House Education Committee with an 8-4 vote.
If passed, a legislative analysis says the designation would cost the state more than $180,000 a year. However, sponsors amended the bill to change the data the advisory committee would use to bring down the costs. Due to budget challenges, the sponsors want gifts, grants, or donations to fund the work. And there wouldn’t be any monetary assistance for students.
“We don’t have any funding to add to that, but we know that higher ed institutions can utilize that in their marketing and as something to achieve for their schools,” Velasco said.
Colorado Mountain College’s Yesenia Silva Estrada said the college backs the bill because this designation would not just show who the school enrolls, but how well it serves them. The college has worked with higher education institutions across the state on the bill, said Estrada, CMC’s vice president of planning and chief of staff.
“We believe that this is a bill that can really help the state redefine what it means to serve students well,” she said.
Colorado lawmakers have supported a similar effort in recent years to create a First-Generation Serving designation to help students who are the first to go to college in their family see the efforts in place at schools.
Before the federal cuts, the Trump administration expressed criticism of the MSI designations because it contended they’re “discriminatory and create racial quotas.”
Statewide, federal cuts most affected two-year colleges and schools that enroll more students from rural communities. The Trump administration redirected the money to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and tribal colleges, which the federal government defines based on the history of the institution or who controls them.
The new designation would tell families and students that Colorado and higher education institutions still care about their success after federal cuts, Martinez said.
“We still want to honor these institutions that are doing the good work and supporting minority students and really putting in the work to prioritize them,” he said.
Jason Gonzales is a reporter covering higher education and the Colorado legislature. Chalkbeat Colorado partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. Contact Jason at jgonzales@chalkbeat.org.
