Colorado Independent: Higher ed fears political climate could be costly

A significant drop would mean a costly financial hit to the state’s universities, several of which rely upon international students — or, more precisely, the full tuition they pay.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, state funding for Colorado’s public colleges and universities still hasn’t caught up to 2008 levels. In 2014-15, Colorado ranked 48th out of 50 states for funding for public higher education. And Colorado is dead last among its six border states in public support for higher education.

According to the Colorado Department of Higher Education, in 2015, the last year for which enrollment numbers are available, almost 40,000 students who attended public and private colleges and universities in Colorado weren’t state residents. And that includes almost 10,000 students from about 90 foreign countries.