Regis University officials are pressing Colorado policymakers to reverse a budget provision that would cut state need-based financial aid and work-study support for students at private colleges, warning that the measure would fall hardest on students who already rely on public aid to afford college.

The dispute centers on HB26-1345, a higher education funding bill that moved through the Colorado Legislature in recent days with a late amendment affecting private institutions. Colorado legislative records show the bill passed the Senate on third reading on May 11 by a 32-3 vote, and the House considered the Senate amendments on May 12, concurring and repassing the measure. The bill’s broader purpose is to revise the state’s higher education funding allocation model, but the controversy now centers on Amendment L.001, adopted in the Senate process.

The amendment states that, for the 2026-27 state fiscal year, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education “shall not allocate money” to a nonpublic institution, private institution of higher education or proprietary institution for students under a financial assistance program established by the commission. It includes a parallel restriction on work-study money. The amendment also says those provisions would be repealed effective July 1, 2028, making the restriction temporary but potentially disruptive for the next aid cycle.

Regis University has framed the provision as a direct hit to Colorado students rather than an institutional budget adjustment. In a May 7 message to its campus community, the Denver university said an earlier budget footnote had directed that a $14 million reduction in state need-based financial aid would affect Colorado students attending private higher education institutions such as Regis. The university said the Senate’s passage of Amendment L.001 would turn that approach into an enforceable change in state law.

Regis argued that current Colorado statutes and Colorado Commission on Higher Education policy support aid for Colorado students regardless of which eligible Colorado institution they attend. The university urged students, employees, families and supporters to contact legislators and ask them to strip the amendment and preserve need-based aid access for students at private institutions.

Denver7 reported that the change could affect more than 2,000 students at institutions including Regis University, the University of Denver and Colorado Christian University, reducing funding by $14 million. The station reported that Regis says 587 of its students would lose $5.5 million in aid. Those figures make the issue concrete for families because the proposal would not simply reduce a line item at a campus; it would remove grants and work-study support attached to individual students.

Catherine Rohde, Regis University’s associate vice president of admissions and financial aid, told Denver7 that the university is focused on students who need the aid to make college possible. She said the affected students have not changed residency or financial-aid eligibility; the distinction is that they chose an institution such as Regis.

The work-study component has drawn particular concern because it is both financial aid and employment. Denver7 highlighted the case of a Colorado student at Regis who said work-study had connected her with an on-campus job that supported her college costs and fit her academic life. For students in similar positions, losing work-study could mean replacing campus employment with outside work that may be less predictable or less aligned with class schedules.

The University of Denver also objected to the proposed cut. Denver7 reported that DU said 508 of its students would be affected and released a statement warning that the reduction could harm Colorado students’ ability to attend the higher education institution of their choosing. The university said need-based aid is especially important for underserved and first-generation students who rely on such support.

Supporters of HB26-1345 have emphasized the bill’s broader goal of modernizing Colorado’s higher education funding model. A May 7 statement from Colorado Senate Democrats said the measure would update the state’s performance model to better reflect today’s student body, including part-time students and transfer students. The statement said the bill would expand recognition of qualified transfers, create a more inclusive retention measure for part-time and full-time students, modernize graduation calculations and streamline formula definitions and data sources.

That policy rationale, however, does not resolve the separate fight over the private-college aid amendment. The main funding-model provisions take effect for the 2027-28 state fiscal year, according to the legislative bill summary, while the contested amendment addresses 2026-27 aid and work-study allocations. That timing is one reason private colleges are treating the amendment as an immediate affordability issue rather than a long-term formula dispute.

Regis had already signaled concern before the May votes. In an April 28 state funding update, the university said a budget footnote had not been discussed or removed during Joint Budget Committee deliberations. Regis said it planned conversations with the Colorado Department of Higher Education, representatives from the Attorney General’s office and the Governor’s office, while also preparing contingency plans to support affected students if those efforts failed.

The legislative path now places pressure on state officials to clarify how the aid restriction would be implemented and whether any administrative or legal arguments remain available to colleges. The amendment language is explicit, but Regis has maintained that existing law supports allocation of need-based aid to Colorado students across eligible institutions. The university’s messaging suggests it may continue pursuing relief even after the bill’s passage through the Legislature.

For students, the practical question is whether aid packages for the 2026-27 academic year will change and how soon institutions can provide certainty. Students who filed the FAFSA, planned around state grants or accepted work-study positions may need revised award letters if the restriction takes effect as written. Private colleges may also face pressure to replace lost state aid with institutional grants, though that could strain their own budgets and may not fully offset the loss for every student.

The dispute also creates a governance question for Colorado higher education: whether need-based aid should follow the student or be limited by institutional category during a tight budget cycle. Public institutions educate the majority of Colorado college students and face their own fiscal constraints, but private nonprofit colleges argue that Colorado residents attending in-state private campuses remain part of the state’s higher education ecosystem and should not be excluded from aid solely because of institutional choice.

As of the latest legislative action posted on the Colorado General Assembly site, HB26-1345 had cleared both chambers after the House concurred in the Senate amendments on May 12. The next phase will determine whether the provision is signed, modified through another mechanism or addressed administratively. For Regis University and other private colleges, the immediate message to students is that the fight is not abstract: it is about grants, jobs and whether Colorado’s aid system continues to treat financial need as the primary criterion.