By Jason Gonzales
Chalkbeat Colorado
Colorado lawmakers and college officials hope a name change will help reverse years of sharply declining enrollment at two rural campuses, and in turn, also help support the towns they serve.
The change, requiring legislation, would remove the “junior” from Otero and Trinidad State junior colleges. The bill would leave Northeastern Junior College as the last remaining higher education institution bearing the name in the state and one of the few left in the country. Its enrollment has declined 48% in a decade, but community backlash over the proposed name change caused legislators to exclude the college from the bill.
Courtesy of Northeastern Junior College
Colorado lawmakers and college officials hope a name change will help reverse years of sharply declining enrollment at two rural campuses, and in turn, also help support the towns they serve.
The change, requiring legislation, would remove the “junior” from Otero and Trinidad State junior colleges. The bill would leave Northeastern Junior College as the last remaining higher education institution bearing the name in the state and one of the few left in the country. Its enrollment has declined 48% in a decade, but community backlash over the proposed name change caused legislators to exclude the college from the bill.
State lawmakers plan to put an additional $20 million into the Colorado Water Plan under a bipartisan measure that won preliminary approval in the Colorado House on Wednesday.
That money comes on top of whatever revenue the state earns from sports betting, which voters approved in Proposition DD in 2019. The money would go to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, a division of the Department of Natural Resources that provides grants for water projects across the state.
âItâs going to require at least $100 million a year for us to satisfy the needs that have been outlined in that plan,â said House Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver, who introduced House Bill 1260 with Rep. Marc Catlin, R-Montrose.
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