BUDGET

FROM PAGE 12 student tuition at 4%, but the legislature decided on 5% with the exception of the University of Northern Colorado, which will be able to increase tuition by 6%.

Zenzinger said the state’s higher education institutions had an 11% gap in their mandatory costs and that even with allowing for such a large tuition increase they will only have enough money to close the gap at 10.1%.

“My biggest regret (about the budget) is that we just were not able to close that gap fully,” she said.

Zenzinger said the JBC was trying to meet schools’ nancial needs without pricing students out of higher education. If the legislature were to allocate enough money to colleges and universities to cap tuition at 4% it wouldn’t have had any money left for new legislation and e bill would likely have the biggest impact on the University of Colorado Boulder, which backs the proposal. State law requires that an average of no more than 45% of incoming freshmen at public universities come from out of state, and CU Boulder is near that limit. ongoing programs. e scal year 2023-24 budget includes $485 million more in K-12 education funding than in the current year, which represents a $900 per-pupil increase. e budget calls for a 5.7% increase in base education spending to $8.9 billion and an 8.4% increase in average per-pupil spending to $10,404, Chalkbeat Colorado reports. ere’s no money in the budget, however, for buying down the budget stabilization factor — sometimes referred to as the negative factor — which is a GreatRecession-era scheme that allows the General Assembly to allocate to schools each year less than what they are owed. e IOU persists today. at’s because there’s enough money in the State Education Fund to buy down the de cit. And that

State o cials and others want Colorado colleges and universities to bene t Colorado students as much as possible, since they get taxpayer support. But lawmakers have cut state funding for schools over the years while allowing tuition hikes. at has led schools to look toward out-of-state students to bring in more revenue.

At the same time, the rising tuition has made some students rethink whether universities, especially the state’s agship, are worth the nancial burden, or if they can nd a better deal elsewhere.

University of Colorado System o cials say they would use the increased money from enrolling more out-of-state students to o er Coloradans more merit- and need-based scholarships, and to become more competitive when recruiting in-state students — especially with a smaller pool of college-aged students.

Total state funding for higher education in the budget was increased by $147 million to $1.4 billion.

School o cials said the university accepts every quali ed Colorado applicant. But many Colorado students never end up on campus, and the school is able to consistently enroll only about 80% of Colorado students who were accepted. Last year, however, was an outlier, with the school enrolling 92% of all Colorado students who were accepted.

Colorado funds its public higher ed institutions at some of the lowest rates in the nation, leading colleges to raise tuition and recruit more outof-state students who can pay more. Meanwhile, Colorado families carry high tuition burdens compared to other states.

Colorado students pay about $30,000 a year in tuition. Out-ofstate students pay about $57,000.

Across all classes, CU Boulder provides $15.5 million in merit aid for about 4,200 students, school o cials said in a statement. It also supports about 1,700 students through a need-based program that pays for a student’s share of tuition.

O cials at the school said enrolling more out-of-state students is a way to sustain and increase that aid.

University of Colorado System spokesman Ken McConnellogue will happen in the School Finance Act that will be debated later on in the legislative session.

( e State Education Fund, which is expected to be a rainy day pool of money to help the legislature fund K-12 education, is lled with income tax revenue. e fund gets 0.33% of taxable income, meaning that it rises and falls with the economy and as Coloradans’ pay increases or decreases. ere’s expected to be more than $1 billion in the fund next scal year.)

“For the rst time in a very long time we don’t need to use general fund money to e ectuate that buy down in the budget stabilization factor,” Zenzinger said. “ at will come from the State Education Fund this year. at fund has grown and grown and grown and we’ve tried not to tap it. But now we’re in a situation where we need to spend it down.” e budget stabilization factor is roughly $321 million. Zenzinger says the plan is for the JBC to buy it down by either half or fully in the school nance act.

Zenzinger said there are also two things happening that are reducing how much it costs for the state to run K-12 schools: an increase in property values driving up local property tax revenue and a decrease in student enrollment.

“ e circumstances are di erent (this year), the context is di erent,” she said.

Next year’s budget also contains money to start up several new departments and initiatives launched by lawmakers in recent years, including universal preschool and the Behavioral Health Administration.

Starting next school year, 4- and 5-year-olds will be eligible for a minimum of 15 hours per week of preschool with no out-of-pocket costs for their parents. e budget has $322 million to get that up and said in a statement the Boulder campus’ primary focus remains on recruiting, retaining, and graduating Colorado students.

“We believe this bill will increase a ordability and access for those students while also enhancing our ability to keep Colorado’s top students in the state,” he said.

Colorado isn’t the only agship school that’s considered how to weigh in-state student enrollment versus out-of-state enrollment, according to Tom Harnisch, State Higher Education Executive O cers Association vice president for government relations.

Because out-of-state students pay higher tuition, universities around the country have lobbied to lift enrollment caps on them as states’ overall spending on higher education has declined in recent years, he said. is year, for instance, North Carolina increased how many outof-state students its universities can admit.

Similar to what the Colorado bill proposes, some schools have increased merit aid while also increasing the overall number of running, half of which is a reallocation of existing funds while the rest is coming from tax revenue generated by Proposition EE, the 2020 ballot measure raising nicotine and tobacco taxes. e budget also has $2.5 million to incentivize preschool providers to be a part of the program. ere is also $7.3 million set aside in the budget to increase pay for Colorado State Patrol troopers. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun. com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

When it comes to the Behavioral Health Administration, which was created by the legislature in 2021, there is $1.9 million in the budget for sta ng, $5 million for community providers and $2 million for children’s programs. e total amount the administration is slated to get is about $270 million. e budget provides a 5% raise to state employees, with an additional 3.5% pay boost for state employees who work at 24/7 facilities, like the Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. It’s tough to quantify how much money that will cost because it a ects various agencies and departments di erently.

Additionally, any state worker who makes minimum wage will have their hourly pay bumped up to $15 an hour.

Finally, the budget includes $9 million for the Department of Corrections to be spent on $1,000 per month housing stipends for 1,133 sta ers through February 2024. e money will be targeted at DOC sta serving in the Buena Vista, Sterling and Limon correctional facilities.

Thu 4/20

Erin Stereo: Mile High 420 Festival

2023 @ 1pm Civic Center Park, Broadway and Colfax Ave., Denver

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Tivoli Club Brass Band @ 7pm Dazzle Denver, 1512 Curtis St, Denver

Jonathan Foster Music: Jonathan Foster at Lion's Lair @ 7pm Lion's Lair, 2022 E Colfax Ave, Denver

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Wed 4/26

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Weathers @ 6:30pm

Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Tenia Nelson Trio @ 6:30pm Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm Pl, Den‐ver

Narcotic Wasteland - Denver

Deathfest @ 7pm

The King Room, 6100 E 39th Ave, Denver

Death By Dub @ 11:59pm

Knew Conscious, 2350 Lawrence St, Den‐ver

Fri 4/21

Denver Pub Crawl - LODO @ 7pm / $30-$33

Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row, 1946 Mar‐ket Street, Denver

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LP Giobbi: Regenerate Festival Pre-Party @ 9pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Sat 4/22

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Ripe @ 8pm

Bluebird Theatre, 3317 E. Colfax Av‐enue, Denver

HELL @ 8pm Hi-Dive, 7 S Broadway, Denver

Tue 4/25

Every Avenue @ 7pm / $22 Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

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Live Music on TapHolly Vose @ 5:30pm / Free Colorado Tap House, 14982 West 69th Av‐enue, Arvada. info@coloradotap house.com, 720-826-8326

Erin Stereo:

Galacdisco at Meow Wolf @ 8pm Meow Wolf Denver | Convergence Station, 1338 1st St, Denver

Ladies Night Out @ 8pm Paramount Theatre Denver, Denver

Jeffrey Dallet @ 1:30pm

Cadence Lakewood, 3151 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood

Page 9 @ 7pm

The Lodge at Woods Boss, 675 22nd St, Denver

Good Comedy Presents Bo Johnson Live in Denver @ 8pm

The Bug Theatre, 3654 Navajo St, Denver

Watermelon Funk @ 11:59pm

Knew Conscious, 2350 Lawrence St, Den‐ver

Sun 4/23

Thousand Frames @ 5:30pm

Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

Damn Skippy @ 8pm

Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom & Other Side, 2637 Welton St, Denver

Mon 4/24

Suicide Silence @ 4:30pm

Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver

Yaeji @ 8pm Ogden Theatre, 935 E Colfax Ave, Denver

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Pote Baby @ 8pm Larimer Lounge, 2721 Larimer St, Denver

Fat Nick @ 6pm Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St, Denver

KXLLSWXTCH @ 6pm Fillmore Auditorium, 1510 Clarkson St, Denver

Luminous Kid @ 7pm Marquis Theater, 2009 Larimer St, Denver

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Ninety Percent 90s @ 8pm Herman's Hideaway, 1578 S Broadway, Denver

In Plain Air @ 8pm Lost Lake Lounge, 3602 E Colfax Ave, Denver