15-249.18. Invest in postsecondary success program; vendor; fund; rules

A. The invest in postsecondary success program is established.  The department of education shall administer the program. 

B. The invest in postsecondary success program shall contract with a vendor that is exempt from federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and that is selected through a request for proposals. The vendor shall provide student support to program participants under this section. The vendor selected pursuant to this subsection must meet all of the following requirements:

1. Have administered each of the following for at least five previous academic years:

(a) College match savings accounts in which a student's contributions are matched by $8 for each dollar the student deposits per academic year. The college match savings accounts described in this subdivision must be in the form of a custodial account or 529 plan.

(b) Financial capability training that addresses budgeting, managing student debt, savings, debit management, credit card use, retirement readiness and credit reports.

(c) Workforce readiness training that addresses businesses mentoring, job shadowing, interviewing and resume skills and career exploration.

2. Have served at least two thousand students in the past ten years.

3. Currently support multiple student pathways by partnering with institutions of higher education, including community colleges, universities and career and technical education programs.

C. To participate in the program, students may apply to the department of education in a manner prescribed by the department. The department shall establish program eligibility criteria. Each program participant shall open a college match savings account with the vendor that is selected pursuant to subsection B of this section.

D. The vendor selected pursuant to subsection B of this section shall administer college match savings accounts for program participants and provide program participants with financial capability training and workforce readiness training as described in subsection B, paragraph 1 of this section.

E. The invest in postsecondary success program fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations. The department of education shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department shall use monies in the fund for the purposes of administering the program and for distributing monies to the vendor selected pursuant to subsection B of this section. The vendor shall use any monies received from the fund for the purposes of this section.

F. The department of education may adopt rules for the purposes of this section.