CU opposes bill though it could mean more money for the College Opportunity Fund
State lawmakers are pushing through a bill that would grant in-state tuition to employees and their children who relocate to Colorado with their companies.
According to co-sponsors Rep. Joe Rice, D-Arapahoe, and Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Arapahoe, the bill is one of a string of efforts made by the general assembly to attract businesses to Colorado. The current law states that students must live in the state for one year before qualifying for in-state rates.
“Colorado ranks pretty low as a business-friendly state,” Williams said. “We can’t offer tax incentives to businesses, so we’ve got be creative. Right now, most businesses come because they want to be here, for things like the scenery, not because of the incentives we can offer them.”
Williams said that state universities met the proposed legislation with mixed enthusiasm. On one hand, she said, schools welcomed the potentially higher enrollment, but were apprehensive at the risk of losing out-of-state tuition dollars.
“The statistics proved to be a wash. The money of one out-of-state student was equal to about two or three instate, so it’s been difficult to reconcile the loss of money with higher enrollment,” Williams said.
Larger schools such as CU, who depend largely on out-of-state students to stay afloat in a state starved for higher education funding, were the most vocal opponents to the bill. However, CU recognizes that the bill potentially means more enrollment-based funding like the College Opportunity Fund. For the 2006-2007 school year, CU’s average instate tuition was $5,643, while out-of-state students paid an average $23,539 for the year.
Colorado has been falling in a number of national rankings in terms of the climate it provides for businesses. According to the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan tax research group, Colorado fell from sixth to 14th for its business-friendly tax climate. The decline in higher education over the past five years has also had a negative impact on Colorado businesses.
“I’ve had companies tell me, ‘We haven’t looked at Colorado for five years because you’re systematically dismantling higher education,'” said Tom Clark, executive director of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation, a nonprofit business development firm in Denver.
Gov. Ritter’s spokesman Evan Dreyer said he had not heard of any opposition to the bill on the part of the governor.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Cassie Hewlings at cassie.hewlings@thecampuspress.com
