Tuition and Financial Aid

The College Opportunity Fund (COF), created by the Colorado Legislature, provides a stipend to eligible undergraduate students paying in-state tuition. The stipend pays a portion of your total in-state tuition for eligible undergraduate students who attend a public Colorado institution or a participating private institution. Eligible undergraduate students must be admitted and enrolled at a participating institution to use the stipend for eligible undergraduate classes.

The stipend is paid to the institution on a per-credit-hour basis, and the credit-hour amount is set annually by the General Assembly. Please check the official state College Opportunity Fund website for the current amount.

Who is eligible for COF?

Students must meet all of the below-listed criteria to qualify:

• Undergraduate student pursing an undergraduate degree or undergraduate program
• Classified as a Colorado resident*
• Admitted and enrolled at a Colorado public institution (CU Denver) or a participating private institution
• For more information about COF, visit the College Opportunity Fund Website.

_{* If you are not currently classified as a Colorado resident, please refer to our website regarding the petition process.}

How to Apply for COF?

• You only need to apply for COF once.
• Go to the COF Application website
• When applying for COF, enter the following information. Information entered must match your CU Denver record. If the information you enter isn’t an exact match, your COF account will NOT link to your CU Denver account*.
  • Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Social Security Number**
• Once your application has been processed (48-72 hours after submission), you’ll be able to authorize your COF in your UCDAccess Portal.

_{* Please refer to the COF Troubleshooting section below for more information
** If you included your Social Security Number on your Admissions Application, you must include it on your COF application}

To learn more about the College Opportunity Fund, please visit the Office of the Registrar.