republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/sb-21-029.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Colorado American Indian Tribes In-stateTuition"
description: "Beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, the act requires a state institution of higher education (institution) to adopt a policy to offer in-state tuition classification to students who would not otherwise qualify for in-state tuition if the student is a federally recognized member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe with historical ties to Colorado, as designated by the Colorado commission of Indian affairs in partnership with history Colorado.The institution may count the student as a resident student for any purpose within the tuition classification statutes and for purposes of resident enrollment requirements. The student is eligible to apply for the Colorado opportunity fund stipend and state-funded financial aid, and may be eligible for private financial aid programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "SB 21-029"
citation: "Colorado SB 21-029 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Adrienne Benavidez", "Alec Garnett", "Stephen Fenberg"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 15
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-28T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b95fd420-cbc1-4ba6-b11a-621b5781bd8e"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-029"
source_hash: "3d0e1a82ed8adbdd472463627f23d5d32b65cb31152971c5832f6701cfc2ce7b"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 21-029 (2021A) — Colorado American Indian Tribes In-stateTuition

Beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, the act requires a state institution of higher education (institution) to adopt a policy to offer in-state tuition classification to students who would not otherwise qualify for in-state tuition if the student is a federally recognized member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe with historical ties to Colorado, as designated by the Colorado commission of Indian affairs in partnership with history Colorado.The institution may count the student as a resident student for any purpose within the tuition classification statutes and for purposes of resident enrollment requirements. The student is eligible to apply for the Colorado opportunity fund stipend and state-funded financial aid, and may be eligible for private financial aid programs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_sb029_h_app_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (04/23/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/11/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (02/16/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_01.pdf)
5. **PA1 (02/19/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_sedu_01.pdf)
6. **PA2 (03/01/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029sedu_01.pdf)
7. **Reengrossed (04/26/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_ren.pdf)
8. **Rerevised (05/28/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_rer.pdf)
9. **Revised (05/24/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_029_rev.pdf)
10. **Signed Act (06/28/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_029_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **49–11** (pass) · lower
- BILL — **34–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Adrienne Benavidez — primary (person)
- Alec Garnett — primary (person)
- Stephen Fenberg — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-06-28T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-11T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-11T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-06-11T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-05-28T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-25T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
- **2021-05-24T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2021-05-24T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Education Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-26T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Education `introduction`
- **2021-04-26T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-04-23T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
- **2021-04-23T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-18T07:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Education Refer Amended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-16T07:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Education `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b95fd420-cbc1-4ba6-b11a-621b5781bd8e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).