By Eric Hogue

Thousands of Colorado students are now facing uncertainty about their fall college plans because of a recent decision by the Colorado legislature. In the 600-page state budget, Colorado lawmakers quietly eliminated $14.1 million in need-based financial aid — not through open debate, but through a footnote.

Yes, a footnote.

Tucked inside the state’s “long bill” establishing the coming year’s state budget, more than 2,000 low-income Colorado students will be stripped of aid. Not because of their financial need, but because of where they choose to attend college.

Students attending public institutions are unaffected. But those who enroll at private, nonprofit, or career-focused schools — places like Regis University, the University of Denver, Colorado Christian University, Colorado College, Naropa University and others — will lose access to Colorado student grants, state work-study, and graduate need-based aid.

For years, Colorado has said it values educational choice. This past January, Gov. Jared Polis signed on to a provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that created a voucher program to help fund private K-12 education in the state.

Moreover, state law explicitly affirms need-based aid should be available to in-state students at both public and nonpublic higher education institutions to preserve “a variety of educational opportunities for Coloradans of all backgrounds and resources.”

Yet, this budget decision does the opposite. 

It tells students and families their choice of a certain Colorado college or university disqualifies them from the very financial support the General Assembly created to expand opportunity in higher education.

This is not abstract policy — it is an immediate disruption.

Financial aid offers have already gone out. Students have made important decisions. Families have set budgets, arranged childcare, and turned down other options based on commitments the state made to them. Now those commitments have been withdrawn.

Sadly, some students will abandon their college plans altogether. Others will scramble to switch their commitments, potentially losing their earned credits, their scholarships, or access to the program that best fits their long-term goals. In either case, the result is the same: fewer opportunities for the very students Colorado claims to prioritize.

At Colorado Christian University, we have seen firsthand how this aid changes lives. Four-hundred-and-sixty-four Colorado students have received more than $3.5 million in need-based state aid to attend CCU. They chose CCU because it was the right fit for them academically, financially and personally.

Denying them aid because of that choice is not fiscal discipline. It is discrimination.

Colorado faces real budget pressures. But balancing the books on the backs of low-income students is not a solution. These are Colorado residents. Their families pay taxes here. Many are the first in their families to pursue higher education.

Why are we telling them where they can — and cannot — go?

The consequences extend beyond individual students. Private colleges and universities are a vital part of Colorado’s higher education ecosystem. They employ thousands, contribute to local economies and produce graduates who stay in our communities as teachers, nurses, business leaders and public servants.

When students are driven away, the ripple effects are real: programs shrink, jobs are lost and communities suffer.

This policy does not create savings in any meaningful sense. It simply shifts the burden onto families, onto institutions and onto the future workforce Colorado depends on.

If we believe in educational opportunity, then aid should follow the student to pursue what is best for them.

Colorado cannot claim to support access while quietly erecting new barriers for those who need opportunity most.

A decision of this magnitude should not be hidden in a footnote, and it should not stand.

Eric Hogue is president of Colorado Christian University.