CHFA Schools To Home℠ Down Payment Assistance: Your Dream Home Could Be Closer Than You Think
What Is Schools to Home™
Program Snapshot
The CHFA Schools-to-Home™ Program was established by the Colorado General Assembly through Senate Bill 25-167 and officially launched on July 1, 2026, as a state-backed commitment to Colorado’s public-school workforce. Recognizing that rising housing costs have made homeownership increasingly difficult for many educators and school staff, the state created a Community Investment Portfolio within Colorado’s Public School Fund, drawing on interest and income earned on the investment of the public school fund to finance the program. The law unlocks at least $100 million by 2028 and $200 million by 2030 to assist public school employees in buying their first home. Administered by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA), the program reflects a deliberate policy choice by the state to invest public resources directly in the stability and retention of the educators and school staff who serve Colorado’s communities.
Program Snapshot
Figures reflect Senate Bill 25-167 as enacted. Confirm current program terms with CHFA.
Buying Your First Home
Buying your first home through the Schools-to-Home™ program starts well before closing day. Every participant is required to complete an approved online homebuyer education class, giving future homeowners a clear understanding of the mortgage process, their financial responsibilities, and what to expect as a homeowner. The program also requires a minimum $1,000 investment from the buyer — and if you’ve already put the appraisal fee on a credit card, that cost can count toward your required contribution. Combine that with seller concessions, which are commonly negotiated as part of the purchase agreement, and many buyers are able to close on their first home with very little out-of-pocket expense.
Selling Your Home & Buying Another
The Schools-to-Home™ program isn’t limited to first-time buyers looking to purchase their very first home — it can also support educators and school staff who are ready to sell their current home and move into another one, whether that means downsizing to a smaller space or upgrading to a larger one. As your needs change — a growing family, an empty nest, a shorter commute, or simply a home that better fits your life — the program can help make that transition more affordable by easing the down payment burden on your next purchase, just as it would for a first home.
Keeping Your Current Home as a Rental
Some educators and school staff may prefer to keep their current home and rent it out rather than sell it when they’re ready to buy again — and the Schools-to-Home™ program can accommodate that path as well. The one key stipulation: you cannot have more than one active CHFA loan at a time. If your existing home has a CHFA loan on it, that loan will need to be paid off, refinanced, or otherwise resolved before you can use the Schools-to-Home™ program to purchase a new primary residence. As long as that requirement is met, keeping your current property as a rental while moving into a new home is an option worth exploring.
How does this program work
How Does This Program Work
0% interest on your down payment assistance
The second mortgage carries no interest, ever — you only ever repay the assistance amount plus your share of appreciation.
CHFA Schools To Home is a down payment assistance program created by the Colorado General Assembly and run by CHFA (Colorado Housing and Finance Authority) specifically for public school employees. It's a shared-appreciation down payment assistance program funded by investment from the Public School Permanent Fund (PSPF), created to help Colorado public school employees purchase homes and live in the communities where they work. The program launched July 1, 2026.
Fixed-Rate First Mortgage
A Fannie Mae conventional loan, generally underwritten through Desktop Underwriter (DU), with restrictions and a higher interest rate than a standard loan.
Down Payment Assistance
A second mortgage loan for up to 25% of the first mortgage loan amount, used toward down payment and/or closing costs. This second mortgage is interest-free — 0% interest is charged on the assistance amount.
Shared Appreciation
The borrower shares a percentage of the home's future appreciation with the PSPF. Repayment of the second mortgage and the shared appreciation is deferred until the loan ends or an earlier event, such as payoff, sale, refinance, or the home no longer being the borrower's primary residence. No interest accrues on the assistance at any point during the deferral.
Who Qualifies
Any full-time employee of a preK-12 Colorado public school, school district, charter school, institute charter school, board of cooperative educational services, or innovation zone — this includes teachers, administrators, bus drivers, custodians, and cafeteria staff. If multiple borrowers are on the loan, only one needs to be a full-time public school employee.
Example: How Shared Appreciation Works
A borrower buys a $437,500 home and receives $87,500 (25%) as down payment assistance, interest-free. The home later sells for $480,000 — a $42,500 gain. Since the borrower received 25% DPA, they owe 25% of the appreciation ($10,625) back to PSPF, for a total repayment of $98,125 — leaving $31,875 in remaining equity. No interest is ever added to the $87,500 — only the shared-appreciation amount is owed on top of it. The shared-appreciation percentage owed is always 5 percentage points lower than the DPA percentage received, and negative appreciation counts as 0%.
Requirements
- Minimum 620 credit score, minimum $1,000 borrower contribution, homebuyer education class, and household income under county-specific CHFA limits.
- Completion of the "Understanding Your Financial Commitment" course and quiz, plus a CHFA-approved homebuyer education class, are mandatory.
- This program is a standalone option and cannot be combined with other CHFA first mortgage or down payment assistance programs.
Income Limit
Beyond the credit score requirement, CHFA also sets a household income limit for the Schools-to-Home™ program: $178,920, effective statewide as of June 2026. Unlike some CHFA programs that scale the limit based on household size or location, this figure applies flat across Colorado regardless of where you're buying or how many people are in your household. For most public school employees — even dual-income households with two educators on the loan — $178,920 comfortably accommodates typical earnings, meaning income is rarely the barrier to qualifying for this program. It's a generous ceiling by design, intended to keep the program accessible to the vast majority of Colorado's public school workforce rather than narrowly restricting it to only the lowest earners.
Minimum FICO Score
A minimum FICO score of 620 is a notably generous credit requirement given the size of the down payment assistance available through the Schools-to-Home™ program — you don't need perfect credit to qualify. FICO scores typically range from 300 to 850 and are calculated based on factors like payment history, amounts owed, length of credit history, new credit inquiries, and credit mix; a 620 score generally falls in the "fair" range, well below the "good" or "excellent" tiers many buyers assume they'd need for a program of this scale. Rather than assuming you don't qualify, it's worth requesting a full credit evaluation from a participating lender, who can review your entire credit history and confirm there are no other disqualifying factors — such as recent bankruptcies, foreclosures, or unresolved collections — that could affect eligibility beyond the credit score itself.
Conforming Loan Limit
Conforming loan limits determine the maximum loan amount that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will purchase or guarantee, and they play an important role in the Schools-to-Home™ program since the first mortgage must be a conforming loan. For 2026, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) set the baseline conforming loan limit for a single-family home at $832,750 for most counties in Colorado. However, in designated high-cost counties — largely concentrated in Colorado's mountain resort communities and the Denver metro area — that limit rises significantly, with limits ranging up to $1,249,125 to reflect higher local home values. Because these limits are reviewed and adjusted annually by the FHFA based on home price trends, buyers should confirm the specific conforming loan limit for their county at the time of purchase to understand how it may affect their financing options.
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