Behind the fun acronym, COSI has serious impact
Carla Castillo, Student Success Network Manager
When others forget some regions of the state, the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) remembers.
That was the message I heard loud and clear at our annual COSI Symposium, which brought together more than 100 dedicated education advocates at the beautiful University of Colorado Colorado Springs campus last month.
I’m Carla Castillo, COSI’s new student success network manager. I support program grantees as they advance our mission to make higher education more affordable and accessible. After two days of discussions, professional development and activities, I quickly realized that our small program has a mighty impact.
Launched in 2014, COSI awards grants to programs designed to get students to and through postsecondary institutions. We manage two signature grant initiatives: the Matching Student Scholarships and Community Partner Programs.
To make college more affordable, COSI awarded more than $6.6 million to 47 organizations this past year — including counties, higher education institutions and workforce development groups — that match state funds one-to-one, doubling scholarships for students. This year, we rolled out a new reduced match option for 16 counties with above average poverty rates, extending our reach to many of Colorado’s rural communities. In all, COSI scholarships will annually bridge the gap for nearly 4,000 students statewide.
But we also know that getting students to the college door is just the beginning: to truly succeed, we need them to graduate. That’s where our Community Partner Programs (CPP) come in, which prepare students for postsecondary education and support them through completion. COSI recently awarded a total of $3.1 million to 29 community partners that will serve an estimated 8,000 students annually.
While our footprint is growing, so is our success. Our internal data show the vast majority of COSI students enrolled in CPP — 90 percent — persist in their programs, a 12 percent increase compared to peers of similar demographic groups. Students receiving COSI scholarships perform even better: 94 percent persist, outpacing their non-COSI counterparts by 21 percent.
These outcomes are moving the needle toward our statewide equity goals. Latino and Hispanic students make up more than half of COSI scholarship recipients and 45 percent of CPP participants. By directly engaging these students, we can erase equity gaps in our higher education system and transform the lives of families who are least likely to earn a credential.
At the Symposium, we celebrated these accomplishments and talked about how we can further improve outcomes. Across the board, grantees said that the matching investment makes for robust fundraising; donors are more likely to join the cause knowing the state behind them. Even some entrepreneurs are getting involved, grantees said, leveraging COSI funds to invest in and hire top talent.
We also discussed areas for growth. Grantees agreed we should enhance data collection to track progress in greater detail. To help attract more donors, we need to tell our story and show COSI’s collective impact. After all, COSI exists to serve the underserved, as one grantee put it.
I left the Symposium feeling inspired, reenergized and committed to this work. To truly erase equity gaps, we have to see the dignity in every person and trust in their potential — something our grantees live out every day. As we wrapped up, one of our partners shared a handwritten letter from a scholarship recipient.
“I am a working adult with three boys,” the letter read, “and when I told them about the scholarship, their faces lit up with excitement. They were very excited to know that a complete stranger gave us money in order to continue with school. Your generosity is extremely appreciated, and from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.”
And that is what COSI is all about.
