Concerning higher education funding, and, in connection therewith, implementing the recommendations in the report on the higher education funding allocation formula.
HB26-1345 revises Colorado’s higher education funding framework beginning with the 2027-28 state fiscal year. The bill renames “performance funding” as “results-informed funding” and restructures the statutory formula used to recommend and allocate state funding to public institutions of higher education. It updates definitions and metrics used in the formula, including enrollment, credential completion, retention, graduation rates, and student population shares for Pell-eligible students, underrepresented minority students, and first-generation students.
The bill also creates a new “co-located degree partnership” definition and excludes students in those partnerships from certain graduation-rate cohorts. It replaces the prior statutory structure that used sequential calculation language and role-and-mission share terminology with a new “lever” approach: results-informed funding, ongoing performance funding, and one-time investments. The legislation directs the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Higher Education, and governing boards to collaborate on calculations and budget recommendations, and it updates reporting and budget-request provisions accordingly.
The bill amends multiple sections of the Colorado Revised Statutes governing higher education finance, including sections 23-18-302, 23-18-303.5, and 23-18-306. It changes how state fee-for-service contracts and higher education appropriations are calculated and reported, and it shifts the funding formula to a new results-informed model that is effective for budgets beginning in fiscal year 2027-28. The bill also removes or repeals several existing statutory provisions tied to the prior performance-funding framework, while adding new definitions and calculation rules that will affect the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, the Department of Higher Education, governing boards, and public institutions receiving state support.
The available record shows no committee transcript or recorded vote history, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the materials provided. The bill’s final status indicates it was signed by the governor, which suggests it advanced successfully through the legislative process. Based on the bill text, the measure appears to have been framed as a technical and policy update to align higher education funding with revised metrics and allocation methods rather than as a controversial overhaul.
The main policy issues embedded in the bill are how state higher education dollars should be distributed and which student outcomes should count in the formula. Potential points of contention include the shift from the term “performance funding” to “results-informed funding,” the new method for calculating shares based on multi-year changes, and the inclusion or exclusion of certain student groups in graduation-rate and enrollment metrics. Institutions with different missions may also differ over the treatment of community college transfers, co-located degree partnerships, and the emphasis on equity-related measures such as Pell-eligible, first-generation, and underrepresented minority student populations.