Colorado Mountain College has received $240,000 from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative, a program of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. The grant is the second-largest amount awarded to the 19 school districts, higher education institutions, foundations and educational nonprofit organizations that received a share of $3.2 million during this latest grant cycle. These are called Legacy Grants, as all the recipients had previously received COSI funds.
The Legacy Grants from COSI are in addition to a previous round of funding distributed in 2014. In that round, 28 educational programs statewide shared $6.8 million. At that time, Colorado Mountain College received a $200,000 grant, initiating the student support programs that will continue with the new grant.
The college will use funds from the new 18-month grant to continue to support pre-collegiate efforts at partnering school districts within CMC’s 12,000-square-mile service area. The new grant will continue to support the college’s increased concurrent enrollment involvement, concurrent enrollment materials for low-income students, increased counseling, college visits and testing fee support.
At Colorado Mountain College, these COSI funds fall under the broader umbrella of the college’s Mountain Futures Fund, a tapestry of private, state and national donations and grants created to make college accessible to all students.