Varsity Vouchers: Colorado Has Come Up with a Novel Way to Fund Higher Education. Send the Money with the Students

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Pinched between budget cuts, mandatory increases in K-12 spending and constitutional limits on raising revenue, the Colorado legislature has passed what may be one of the most unique--and controversial--higher education funding plans in the nation: "vouchers" for college undergraduates at both public and private state institutions.

Under the provisions of Senate Bill 189, universities will no longer be state funded. Instead, $2,400 vouchers will be available each year to every state resident with a high school diploma or a GED for up to four years of education. Low-income students who want to attend one of three private institutions will be eligible for half that much.

The voucher replaces state funding to higher education. …