Pot-funded scholarships available

Pueblo County students must apply by 5 p.m. April 29

by anthony a. mestas the pueblo chieftain

Students in Pueblo County have the opportunity to claim what Pueblo County says are the world's first marijuana tax-funded scholarships.

On Wednesday, the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation began accepting Pueblo County Scholarship applications. Students have until 5 p.m. April 29 to apply.

In February, the Pueblo County commissioners approved a partnership with the Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation to administer the Pueblo County Scholarship Fund using pot excise tax dollars to match state funding from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative.

Voters approved a county excise tax on the first sale of unprocessed retail marijuana on retail marijuana cultivation facilities located in Pueblo County in November.

Half of the excise tax proceeds fund the scholarship fund, the other half goes into a fund for capital projects related to community development.

Beverly Duran, PHEF executive, said the organization expects to select 25 scholarship recipients with an award amount of $1,000 each.

"The Pueblo Hispanic Education Foundation would like to credit the county commissioners for their foresight in utilizing these funds to benefit the students in our community," Duran said.

"It's our commitment to help ensure that we are impacting as many students as possible by administering the scholarship."

Commissioner Sal Pace said the scholarships had been planned to kick off next school year, but matching funds from the state allowed the earlier start.

"We contracted with PHEF to be the fiscal agent. You don't have to be Hispanic to qualify," Pace said.

"We want to make sure all the kids in Pueblo County know about this so they can apply to receive funding to go to college."

Duran released criteria for the scholarships Wednesday.

Applicants must be a current resident of Pueblo County.

Applicants must be a graduating high school senior.

Applicants must be attending a public institution located within Pueblo County. (Pueblo Community College or Colorado State University-Pueblo.)

Applicants must have an Expected Family Contribution of $13,085 or less (need that is 250 percent or less of Pell eligibility).

Applicants must have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and a minimum of 12 credit hours.

Scholarship recipients must perform 40 hours of community service to a nonprofit agency.

Scholarship recipients will be announced during an awards banquet in May.

The commissioners are expecting the marijuana excise tax to generate approximately $2.1 million in 2016, making more than $1 million available for scholarships in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 academic years. However, all scholarship amounts are based strictly on funds available.

Applications can be accessed online at phef.net. Completed applications can be submitted via email to phef@phef.net, faxed to 549-2546, or can be mailed or delivered to the PHEF office, 2200 Bonforte Blvd. ADM 329.

For information regarding the scholarship, call 549-2563 or 549-2564.

anthonym@ chieftain.com

Source: Pot-funded scholarships available