Colorado Education Stimulus

Summary

Colorado will receive education-related funding from the American Recovery and Reinvesting Act of 2009 (ARRA), through two principal avenues:

• $1 billion to be distributed through the U.S. Department of Education.
• $760 million through the State Fiscal Stabilization Funds. These funds go directly to governors to use for what they determine to be "critical services", which can include funds to public colleges and universities and local school districts for financial aid and operating costs. Governors can also direct this money to private colleges and universities to modernize facilities or for other purposes.

Colorado Education Stimulus Breakdown

Higher Education Funds

The educational stimulus package includes a variety of higher education and vocational training funds and grants for Colorado:

• An increase in 2009 Pell Grant funding of $105 million over 2008 funds. The 108,000 current Pell Grant recipients in Colorado will receive an increase in the average award for the 2009-10 academic year from $3400 to $3,850.
• An additional $2.7 million for student financial assistance through grants to institutions to assist in the operation of work-study programs under the Higher Education Act.
• $148.7 million for Special Education Part B State Grants to help improve educational outcomes for individuals with disabilities.
• $6.1 million in education technology funds to purchase up-to-date computers and software and provide professional development.
• $126.7 million for Title I Education for the Disadvantaged.

Colorado's higher education students and institutions are also eligible to apply for the following grants funded by the stimulus package:

Community College and Career Training Grants

An institution in Colorado is eligible for only one grant, up to $1,000,000, by demonstrating that it has reached out to employers to identify shortcomings in existing training opportunities in the community.

Teacher Certification and Training

Teacher quality enhancement grants are available to Colorado schools and qualifying partnerships on a competitive basis.

Education and Human Resources

Provides grants for Colorado colleges and universities to attract science and math teachers, and grants to improve math and science in K-12 schools.

Health Professional Training Program

Provides funding for the National Health Services Corporation (NHSC), which recruits and trains health professionals to deliver health care in communities that are currently underserved in Colorado.

Demonstration Program to Integrate Information Technology into Clinical Education

Provides grants to medical schools and related graduate schools in Colorado to implement demonstration projects and develop academic criteria integrating EHR technology in the clinical education of health professionals.

Education tax credits

The AARA also includes the American Opportunity Tax Credit. This modifies the federal higher-education tax credit established in 1997, which benefited middle-income students by offsetting their tax liability. This new credit is “refundable,” meaning that lower-income households in Colorado that have limited or no federal income tax liability can now receive a partial credit in the form of a tax “refund" of up to 40 percent of qualifying expenses for a maximum refund of $1,000. This will potentially benefit 75,000 more students in Colorado.

Stimulus Breakdown (2008 vs. 2009)

City Specific Data - Where the money is going