While Colorado says its higher-education funding formula is performance-based, a new report found that in practice, spending doesn’t reward better performance.
The 65-page report, released by the Common Sense Institute of Colorado, takes a look at the formula.
In an exclusive interview with The Center Square, Kelly Caufield, the institute’s executive director, said it is critical that taxpayer funding be used responsibly.
“In a time of a really constrained state budget, we should have hard questions about how all state money is being used,” Caufield said. “Higher education certainly has not received the biggest part of the general fund but … anyone at any age should care about how public dollars are being spent.”
For higher education, successful spending means students are graduating and their credentials are actually leading to jobs that will pay a living wage and have a good return-on-investment.
Currently, Colorado’s higher-education funding formula is subject to a mandatory five‑year review cycle. In the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Colorado allocated approximately $1.7 billion to funding public higher education. That was a $39 million increase over the prior year.
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Author: Ray Hilbrich
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