Honorably discharged veterans from across the country could attend college in Colorado at cheaper, in-state rates if a Republican- backed bill continues its progress through the legislature.
Proponents such as sponsor Rep. Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, argue the state would benefit from more retired military members settling in Colorado.
“It’s not just for them; it’s for us too,” McNulty said. “They’re a resource for the entire class and provide that unique perspective that most college kids don’t have yet.”
At least seven other states offer some college assistance to nonresident veterans, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
House Bill 1039 passed the House floor on second reading Thursday but was sent back to the Appropriations Committee after lawmakers made the in-state tuition for vets a requirement rather than an option for colleges.
The program could take a $2 million bite out of colleges’ collective budgets. Higher education already faces about $30 million in budget cuts between now and July, 1.
Officials at the University of Colorado system, the state’s largest group of four-year schools, are still trying to figure out how the bill would affect them, said spokesman Ken McConnellogue.
But Rep. Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, said the bill is too costly to earn his support.
“It ought to be up to the institutions to decide what they want to do,” he said. “They (veterans) get federal money.”
The cash veterans get under the federal GI Bill jumped in 2008 from an average of $15,000 to around $60,000, said Rick Duncan, founder of Colorado Veterans Alliance.
Current state law provides tuition assistance to the families of active military members temporarily stationed in Colorado and for Colorado National Guard troops and their dependents. But it gives no higher education benefits to veterans.
“Overall Colorado is pretty chintzy with its veterans,” Duncan said. “Anything that costs any money whatsoever is being looked at under a microscope.”
The bill’s other sponsor, Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, is a Gulf War veteran who moved to Colorado after the war and had to pay out-of-state tuition to earn his master’s degree at the University of Colorado Denver.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com
