College Opportunity Fund
The state of Colorado pays a portion of tuition for Colorado residents earning an undergraduate degree at Colorado public institutions. In order to receive this benefit, you must authorize it at each school you attend. At Front Range Community College, you can authorize COF through eWOLF.
For the 2023-2024 school year, the Colorado Opportunity Fund (COF) stipend is $116 per credit hour.
How COF Works:
- You only have to apply for COF once. Once you authorize for one term at FRCC, that choice typically rolls over every term automatically, but you should always verify each semester that you enroll.
- There are no income qualifications for undergraduate students attending a public institution.
- COF is not considered financial aid.
- You must be eligible for in-state tuition (or attending under an eligible tuition program that charges a special-category rate, such as concurrent enrollment, ASSET or Military) and be currently enrolled in courses.
- You can receive the stipend every term that you take eligible undergraduate courses, and have not met your 145 credit hour lifetime limit.
Getting COF is a Two-Step Process:
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Authorize COF. Once you make your selection, it's saved to your record—if you try again, it will simply tell you there are not changes to save.
COF Waiver for Credit Hour Limit
You can use COF up to 145 credits. Review your COF lifetime “hours used” balance on the COF website.
If you exceed 145 credits, you have three options:
1. Post-Bachelor Waiver
If you have earned a bachelor's degree (after 7/1/05) you may qualify for an additional 30 undergraduate post-baccalaureate degree credits, granted by COF. Request these hours by completing our COF Waiver Request, in which you will be asked to include a copy of your academic transcript (official or unofficial) showing your name, university or college granting the degree, degree conferred and the date of award. These 30 hours have no expiration date, will apply directly to your COF account, and can be used for any eligible credits, at any eligible institution.
Post-Bachelor Waiver
2. Institutional Waiver
If you do not yet have a bachelor's degree, or have already received and exhausted the Post-Bachelor Waiver from COF, and need additional COF hours, you may apply for an Institutional Waiver for use at FRCC. Complete our COF Waiver Request. An institutional COF waiver will be granted only one-time, is valid only at FRCC, may only be granted for current and subsequent semesters (not past semesters) and is only valid for a period of one calendar year or three consecutive semesters
Institutional Waiver
3. CCHE Waiver
After you have exhausted your hours/time granted by an Institutional COF Waiver at FRCC, or if your request was denied, then you may apply for a Colorado Commission on Higher Education (CCHE) waiver (or if you would like to request a Waiver to cover a closed/past semester in which you did not receive COF stipend due to already using up the 145 hours). The CCHE COF waiver will be granted only one-time, may be granted for past, current and/or future semesters, has no expiration or use-by date, and can cover multiple semesters and multiple academic years.
You may also contact one of our campus Academic Advising Offices to discuss which waiver you are eligible for and to start the process, or email FRCCCOF@frontrange.edu.
CCHE Waiver