9News. Starting now, any student who plans to attend college in the 2005-2006 school year can apply for the College Opportunity fund on a state-provided web site (link at the above right). There are no income qualifications and students need to apply only once for their entire college career. The funding is available for up to 145 credit hours."All students throughout the state are eligible for this so we're encouraging everybody to come apply for this right now," Tulp told us. After an eligible student applies for and is approved for the funding, it will appear as a credit on the student's bill. 80 dollars will be applied for each credit hour the student takes, which adds up to 2400 dollars for a typical full-time load of courses. Any student who does not apply for the funding will be responsible for his or her entire tuition. The College Opportunity Fund does not replace existing financial aid programs such as loans or scholarships.The College Opportunity Fund was created to solve "The Colorado Paradox". While Colorado has one of the highest per capita rates of college graduates in the country, a surprisingly low percentage of native Colorado students go on to graduate from college. A large number of Colorado's college graduates move here after they have graduated. According to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, "We import our educated citizens and skilled work force, we don't grow our own." Despite its high ranking in per capita college graduates, only 39% of Colorado high school freshman enroll in college within four years -- ranking Colorado 27th in the nation in that category. Educators hope that the College Opportunity Fund will encourage more native Coloradans to attend and graduate from college. 9News Intern Dana Query contributed this story/>
