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March 11, 2024 SB 24-164
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0660
Sen. Buckner; Lundeen
Rep. McCluskie; Pugliese
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
March 13, 2024
Senate Education
John Armstrong | 303-866-6289
john.armstrong@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☐ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill modifies processes regarding credit transfers between institutions of higher
education and requires students to receive certain cost information. The bill will
increase expenditures for the state and institutions of higher education beginning in
FY 2024-25.
Appropriation
Summary:
No appropriation is required.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill.
Summary of Legislation
The bill makes changes to state law related to transfer of college credit between institutions of
higher education.
Student rights. The bill adds certain rights to students enrolled in postsecondary institutions,
including:
transparency of the cost of postsecondary education;
seamless transfer of general education and transfer pathway courses;
transparency regarding if credits are accepted or rejected from an institution; and,
the ability to appeal an institution’s decision not to accept transfer credits.
The Department of Higher Education (CDHE) must consult with a representative from each
institution to create policies to implement the rights listed above for students. These policies
must be adopted by April 1, 2025, and submitted to the Commission on Higher Education for
approval.
Council of Higher Education Representatives. The bill requires the Council of Higher
Education Representatives (council) to add representatives to ensure equal representation of
institutions, and to annually review the list of general education courses, guaranteed transfer
pathway courses, and enrollment and transfer activity. Page 2
March 11, 2024 SB 24-164
The bill clarifies that students who have completed a general education course defined in the
state’s transfer pathway matrix must receive credit from the institutions receiving the transfer,
regardless of the total number of credits assigned to the course. Institutions may not require
additional lower-division general education courses for these students.
Data reporting. Beginning January 2026, and annually thereafter, CDHE must include as part of
its annual SMART Act hearing certain information regarding credit transfers, disaggregated by
specific demographic categories.
Violations of transfer policy. The bill grants CDHE the authority to enforce violations of
transfer policies against institutions and overturn a course transfer decision made by an
institution.
Appeals process. CDHE must develop an appeal process for students who are denied transfer
of credits in consultation with institutions of higher education. Appeals decisions must be
completed within ninety days.
Acceptance of transfer credits. Institutions must provide notice to students regarding the
acceptance or denial of transfer credits within 30 days after the credit transfer is requested.
Institutions must submit to CDHE their process for reviewing transfer credit applications by
October 31, 2024, and, beginning November 1, 2024, the reason for any denial of transfer
credits.
Cost disclosures. Finally, the bill requires institutions to provide additional information to
students regarding higher education costs and financial aid, and CDHE must report to the
General Assembly on institution denials of transfer credits.
Background
The Council of Higher Education Representatives, established in 2001, consists of representatives
from institutions of higher education and staff from the CDHE. The council meets periodically to
establish common course numberings, classify certain courses as general education courses, and
jointly develop the statewide transfer pathways matrix, which allows institutions to map which
courses can be accepted for credit when students transfer.
State Expenditures
CDHE will have increased workload to convene members of the council to update transfer
policies, make modifications to the Student Unit Record Data System (SURDS) to accept new
information, adopt rules for institutional violations of transfer policy, develop an appeal process
for students who have been denied transfer credits, and ensure accurate reporting of the new
required data elements. Staff from CDHE will have increased workload to accomplish these
activities and review student appeals of denied credit and issue rulings to institutions. Current
staff are expected to be able to accomplish these activities within existing resources.
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March 11, 2024 SB 24-164
Initially, the number of appeals of denied credit transfers is expected to be minimal. As
knowledge of the appeals process grows among institutions and students, appeals may increase
in following years. If CDHE requires more staff to handle these appeals, they will be requested
through the annual budget process.
Institutions of Higher Education
Institutions will have increased costs beginning in FY 2024-25 to implement the new
requirements for transfer students, allow students to appeal decisions, and make required
upgrades to data reporting systems. The fiscal note assumes these costs will be funded through
adjustments to institutional tuition, fees, and other revenue sources. The General Assembly may
also consider a General Fund appropriation for these costs in initial years.
Annual costs will vary depending on the size of the institution, as follows:
smaller institutions—$77,000 to $400,000;
medium-sized institutions—$183,000 to $692,000; and
large institutions—$573,000 to $1.6 million
Institutional costs include:
one-time expenses to upgrade data reporting systems;
staff to make decisions on accepting transfer credits in a condensed 30-day time frame;
including additional information in financial aid disclosures to students;
training on new requirements;
additional documentation of transfer credit decisions; and,
reporting required information to the SURDS.
Staffing costs will vary considerably based on the size of the institution and the number of
transfer students they accept.
Technical Note
The bill requires transfer information to be reported to CDHE disaggregated by income and
disability status. While institutions have income information for their students who complete the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), these data are often not integrated into other
data reporting systems. Additionally, institutions do not have the ability to report disability
status for their students unless the student discloses this information. The fiscal note assumes
that as much data as possible will be submitted, but that there may be incomplete or missing
data for some fields.
The bill’s safety clause will require CDHE and the institutions to immediately develop the appeal
process for denied credit transfer. Because the council will need to meet to standardize this
process, the appeal process is likely to be available beginning January 1, 2025, to allow the
required time to refine the appeal process for students and institutions.
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March 11, 2024 SB 24-164
Effective Date
The bill takes effect upon signature of the Governor, or upon becoming law without his
signature.
Departmental Difference
Several institutions of higher education indicated the need for a General Fund appropriation in
order to implement the bill. These costs ranged from $305,000 and 3.5 FTE to $3.6 million and
16.0 FTE in FY 2024-25. The fiscal note assumes that these additional requirements can be met
using institutional revenue. Ultimately, this funding decision is at the discretion of the General
Assembly.
State and Local Government Contacts
Higher Education
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit the General Assembly website.