Help Pay for Your Education with Grants

Federal, state or local grant funds generally do not have to be repaid

Federal Pell Grant
Pell Grants are awarded to help undergraduates (students who have not earned a Bachelor or Professional Degree) pay for their education after high school. For many students, these grants provide a "foundation" of financial aid to which aid from other federal and non-federal sources may be added. Grants generally do not have to be repaid. Awards may range up to $7,395 during the 2023-24 academic year. See Federal Pell Grants

Federal Pell Grant Proration
Federal Pell Grants are paid based on your Enrollment Level and your EFC. Basecamp will show an award based on Full time enrollment. If you are less than full time you will be paid for a prorated amount of your Pell grant. Each student's situation will be different so please contact Financial Aid for clarification on your specific situation.

  • Full time - 12 credits or more
  • 3/4 time - 9-11 credits
  • 1/2 time - 6-8 credits
  • Less than 1/2 time - 5 credits or less

This will be changing for the 2024-25 year. Please see our FAFSA Changes website for additional information.

Federal Pell Grant Recalculation Date
Federal Pell Grants usually are awarded only to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need and have not earned a bachelor's, graduate, or professional degree.

The Federal Pell Grant Program regulations (§690.80  Recalculation of a Federal Pell Grant award) specify a school must recalculate an award to take enrollment changes into account. The recalculation may require adjustments in the student's initial Pell award. Colorado Mountain College, as part of its policy, will recalculate a student's award only when the change in enrollment status occurs before the Pell Recalculation Date (PRD) in the payment period.

CMC's policy is that we will recalculate Pell awards only for enrollment changes that occur up to the PRD of a term. This policy is true regardless of whether there is compressed coursework. Students are strongly encouraged to finalize their course schedule before the PRD.

2023-24 Pell Recalculation Date:

  • Fall: 09/03/2023
  • Spring: 01/28/2024
  • Summer: TBD

Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG)
The FSEOG Grant is a grant to help pay for a student's education after high school. It is for undergraduates only. A student could get up to $2,000 per academic year, depending on need, the availability of FSEOG funds at CMC, and the amount of other aid awarded. See FSEOG Grants

Colorado State grants include:

Advancing Students for a Stronger Economic Tomorrow (ASSET)
The General Assembly passed HB22-1155, In-State tuition classification for Colorado high school graduates, which allows state aid to be awarded for students who meet the following qualifications: Graduated from a Colorado high school or was physically present in Colorado for at least one year immediately preceding the date the student successfully completed a high school equivalency examination in Colorado; and has been physically present in Colorado for at least 12 consecutive months prior to enrolling in an institution. Student who do not have lawful immigration status and who do not meet the qualifications listed above are also encouraged to apply for institutional aid using the CASFA.

Career Advance Colorado
Starting in August 2023, student who enroll in an in demand field will have their tuition, fees, course materials, and other costs covered while funding is available. Students must complete the FAFSA or CASFA and the COSI application, if eligible. Please see the Career Advance Colorado website for additional information.

Colorado Responsiveness Grant (CRP)
This program provides Colorado Residents who have high need between $3,500 - $4,000 per year. Funding is first come first serve and only awarded until funds are exhausted. Students must complete the FAFSA or CASFA if eligible. You must be enrolled at least 1/2 time to receive the Grant.

College Opportunity Fund (COF)
State funding for college students enrolled in Colorado colleges and universities comes in two forms, block grants and The College Opportunity Fund (COF).  COF is a direct benefit program that provides state-tax dollars to colleges and universities on behalf of eligible undergraduate students, but is not need-based financial aid.  Created by the Colorado legislature in 2004, the COF program enables the state to award taxpayer funding directly to students.

Due to its unique funding model, Colorado Mountain College does not participate in the COF program.  Instead, CMC receives block grants from the state, dollars that are directly applied to the overall costs of in-district and in-state students at the college, which helps CMC maintain tuition prices that are among the lowest in the nation.  This has the added benefit of reducing paperwork burdens on enrolled students, too.

Whether or not they choose to participate in COF, all public colleges in Colorado receive the same amount of need-based financial aid funding per student, based on their level in college, from the state.

ECE Educator Scholarships

The ECE Educator Scholarships are for ECE students to pursue dedicated coursework, certificates & degrees up to a master's. CDHE allocates funds to participating schools. The ECE department at each school in collaboration with their financial aid office, will decide which of their students will receive scholarship funding using the CDHE program guidelines to prioritize students. These scholarships are not need-based.

As part of the ECE Scholarship program, all participating IHE’s are required first to collect the PDIS usernames for all students who apply for scholarship funds. This information will be received from the IHEs before the deadline for spending this allocation of funds, which is June 30, 2024. PDIS is a professional tracking system for ECE educators. It will give registrants access to professional development and networking opportunities and allow us to collect important data about the possible impact of the scholarship dollars on the ECE Workforce in Colorado.

ECE Educator Stipends
Through 2024 (as funding allows) Colorado residence qualify for the ECE Educator Stipends which will pay for tuition and course related fees for ECE 1011 and/or ECE 1031 if you do not yet meet the Early Childhood Teacher qualifications and who want to teach in an early childhood classroom.

Education and Training Voucher (ETV) Program
The Education and Training Voucher (ETV) program is a federally funded program administered by the Colorado Department of Higher Education. The program provides Colorado residents who are currently or have previously been in foster care and are between the ages of 17 to 25 with financial support for post-secondary education at a college, university, vocational, technical, or trade school. Please see the State's website for additional information.

Foster Youth Financial Assistance Program
Higher Education Support For Foster Youth (SB 22-008) requires that all public higher education institutions provide Colorado resident students who have been in foster care in Colorado at any time on or after reaching the age of 13, with financial assistance for the remaining balance of the student's total cost of attendance over the amount of any private, state, or federal financial assistance received by the student. These costs are split, with 50% of the cost being covered by the institution and 50% will be covered by the state. If you were placed in Foster Care in Colorado at any time on or after your 13th birthday, see the State's website for additional information. If you also qualify for ETV, you will need to apply for this before we can award you the Foster Youth Program. You can also contact a Financial Aid Specialist for CMC specific information.

Short Career and Technical Education Certificate (CTE)
CTE funds are a limited and restricted pool of funds for students in short, technical programs that are not otherwise eligible for federal or state aid or concurrently in an aid-eligible program.  Awarding requirements require a complete and valid FAFSA for the appropriate aid year, enrolled in at least 12 degree-applicable credits and making Satisfactory Academic Progress.  Students may receive $1000 or more (maximum allowable is $2250).

Award amounts are subject to change; stay in touch with the financial aid office.