Colorado added a new prize to the state’s vaccine incentive program Wednesday, announcing that 25 randomly selected students who’ve been inoculated against COVID-19 will be awarded $50,000 scholarships to the post-secondary institutions of their choice.
Gov. Jared Polis unveiled the expansion of the Colorado Comeback Cash program just days before the state will select the first winner of a $1 million cash prize for getting vaccinated.
To be eligible to win the new scholarships, students must be Colorado residents between the ages of 12 and 17 and have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, Polis said during a news conference.
“Not only does it help protect your kid to get them vaccinated, but you give them a chance to win $50,000 — in fact, 25 chances to win $50,000,” Polis said.
The money will be placed in the winning students’ CollegeInvest funds, where it will be invested and earn more money over time. The money can be used for in-state or out-of-state colleges and universities, as well as technical, occupational or credential programs, Polis said.
The drawing for the first five scholarships will be held Monday, Polis said. The state will choose five winners every week through July 9.
About a quarter of Coloradans in this age group already have received the vaccine, Polis said. To date, nearly 2.6 million Coloradans have been fully vaccinated, according to state data
Eligible students will automatically be enrolled in the scholarship drawings, just like the lottery for vaccinated adults in the state who are eligible to win one of five $1 million cash prizes.
For the $1 million prizes, winners must be at least 18 years old and will be selected through a random drawing run by the Colorado Lottery in which anonymous numbers assigned to vaccinated people will be chosen at random and matched to a winner. The first of these drawings is Friday.
There is no need to sign up or register for the drawings, Polis said, and everyone who has been inoculated since the vaccines first arrived in Colorado in December is eligible. Coloradans can look up their COVID-19 vaccination records using the Colorado Immunization Information System database.
Money for the cash and scholarship prizes in the Colorado Comeback Cash program comes from Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, passed by Congress in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
“We know the pandemic had a very significant impact on students and on education,” said Angie Paccione, executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education. “We saw undergraduate enrollment decline over the last year and a half… many first-year students decided to take a gap year. This scholarship sends a clear message to our state that we need you for our Colorado comeback… These students will have a jumpstart on their education.”
