§ 23-78-306 — Teaching fellowship stipends - amount - funding

Colorado § 23-78-306

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 23: Postsecondary Education
• Art.: Teacher Preparation Programs

Text

(1) Subject to
available appropriations, up to one hundred teaching fellows per year, selected as
provided in subsection (2) of this section, shall receive financial assistance in the
form of a stipend in the amount of ten thousand dollars disbursed during the
fellowship year. As provided in section 23-78-305 (3), the teaching fellow must
choose whether the stipend is awarded as state-based financial aid or as wages for
employment. In either case, the stipend is awarded without regard to need and is in
addition to any other financial assistance that may be available to the teaching
fellow. A teaching fellow may apply the stipend to pay the costs of attendance
during the year in which he or she participates in the teaching fellowship program.

(2) The teaching fellowship stipends shall be paid fifty percent by the
department of higher education from the amount appropriated for this part 3 and
fifty percent by the participating institution of higher education. An institution of
higher education that participates in a teaching fellowship program shall notify the
department of higher education of the enrollment of each student who enters into a
teaching fellowship program. Based on the level of chronic hiring difficulty and
financial need demonstrated by each participating rural local education provider,
the department shall annually select up to one hundred students enrolled in
teaching fellowship programs to receive the stipend and shall forward to the
institution fifty percent of the amount of the stipend for each selected student. The
institution shall provide the remaining fifty percent of the stipend and disburse one
hundred percent of each stipend to the selected teaching fellows as provided in
section 23-78-305 (2)(c).

(3) If, upon completion of a teaching fellowship program, a teaching fellow
does not accept an offer of employment made by the participating rural local
education provider, or does not complete two full school years of employment as
required in section 23-78-305 (3), the teaching fellow must repay the amount
received as a stipend during the teaching fellowship year in accordance with terms
established by the participating institution of higher education, and upon receipt of
repayment the institution shall refund to the department of higher education the
amount of the stipend.

(4) The general assembly shall annually appropriate to the department of
higher education the amount required to implement the teaching fellowship
programs as provided in this part 3. Any unexpended and unencumbered money
from an appropriation made for the purposes of this part 3 for a state fiscal year
commencing prior to July 1, 2020, remains available for expenditure by the
department for the purposes of this part 3 and for the purposes of sections 23-76-104 and 23-76-106 in the next fiscal year without further appropriation.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2019: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 19-190), ch. 153, p. 1818, � 1, effective May 10. L. 2020: Entire section amended, (SB 20-158), ch. 198, p. 971, � 7, effective June 30.