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Students like Guv's college aid idea

But universities cite fiscal crisis they already face

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published May 2, 2008 at 11 p.m.

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On Thursday afternoons, Room 255 in the West classroom building on the Auraria campus is filled with students who want to become K-12 teachers. Seventy percent can't afford the tuition and expenses.

Seventeen of the 24 Metropolitan State College of Denver students are borrowing from the government or getting grants or scholarships.

Seven are working full-time while going to school, and another 12 are holding down part-time jobs.

The money crunch has delayed several students from getting a degree, and most will leave school with $10,000 to $50,000 in debt.

They are among the majority of Colorado college students who struggle to finance their educations.

They say a $100 million scholarship fund proposed by Gov. Bill Ritter could be a huge help to them and encourage more kids to make the leap toward college.

Many education experts also support the scholarship fund, saying similar programs in other states are proven successes.

But the governor's plan has been controversial. Critics say more scholarships are great but won't make a dent in the fiscal crisis colleges and universities are facing.

Colorado's public colleges lost $126 million in state funding during the last recession, and they've been struggling ever since.

Today, Colorado ranks almost last in public funding for colleges and universities. So the financial burden has fallen to students and their families, and they are feeling the pinch.

New Mexico's success

Scholarship funds can and do drive more students to college while also improving the financial health of public colleges, say education experts.

That's the hope of the governor's proposed ballot initiative that would take 60 percent of revenues from a change in oil and gas severance taxes and put it into a state-run scholarship fund for financially needy families.

Ritter said the scholarship proposal is an important part of his plan to improve higher education. He said two-thirds of Colorado public college students would be eligible for the funds if voters approve the initiative in November.

"We have to provide some hope to those kids . . . that colleges or universities will be affordable in this state," he said.

Similar scholarship funds in other states, including New Mexico, have spurred increases in enrollment and revenue.

New Mexico's Legislative Lottery Scholarship, launched in 1996, was "wildly popular," said Fred Nathan, executive director of Think New Mexico, an independent think tank in Santa Fe. The program pays 100 percent tuition to students who maintain a 2.5 GPA and has helped almost 48,800 students attend New Mexico public colleges.

"It has attracted significant students from working low- and middle-income families who did not apply before," Nathan said.

More strain on schools

The proposal faces an uphill battle.

The oil and gas industry plans to launch a major campaign to defeat the measure.

And college administrators are not enthusiastic.

Most public colleges and universities in the state are not hurting for students. In fact, enrollment has risen recently at many schools, and it's expected to increase in the next few years because of population trends and an economic downturn.

Nancy McCallin, president of the Colorado Community College System, said scholarships can help schools by increasing enrollment and tuition revenue. But she said tuition money doesn't cover the cost of educating students. Schools depend on state funding to pay for teacher salaries and utilities.

'Very personal' to Ritter

CU President Bruce Benson supports efforts to increase financial aid for students, but he has been cool about the scholarship proposal because it doesn't include money for schools to cover operating costs.

For Ritter, the decision to support scholarships was "very personal."

He attended CSU with government grants and loans. He said his family could not afford to pay for college.

"We were not a family that had a higher education culture," Ritter said. "I had no parent who went to college. I had no grandparent who went to high school."

Ritter said he knows colleges need more operating money and he's working toward addressing those needs.

Ritter says, "In my heart of hearts, making college affordable for Colorado kids is one of the most important things I'll do as governor."

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361 Staff writers Chris Barge and Todd Hartman contributed to this report.

Comments

  • May 3, 2008

    7:07 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Mike_In_Hartsel writes:

    A huge help to make the leap but with the money of others. Attending college is not a right. If they can't afford to attend college that's not my problem but it's my money Ritter wants to use to promote the left wing agenda of the teacher's union and the teaching colleges. Socialism begets more socialism. Not with my money if I can help it.

  • May 3, 2008

    7:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    masondav2004 writes:

    Y'know Mike, I think your "college is not a right" attitude is the problem. Maybe it should be, and maybe that's part of the promise of the Founders, the part about all of us being created equal, y'know? Education shouldn't just be for the rich. That attitude robs the less fortunate and it robs society of the genius of people who weren't born with the silver spoon in their mouth. Just a thought.

    I guess that makes me a commie, huh?

  • May 3, 2008

    8:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    farsidefan writes:

    I am not sure college is a "right", but I do think we should do what we can to give as many people as possible the opportunity to attend college.
    I guess I am a softie Mike, but I think using tax money for education is a terrific investment in the future.
    Please don't start with the anti public education crap either. If you are reading this, thank a teacher.

  • May 3, 2008

    9:10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    samsmargolis writes:

    "Seven are working full-time while going to school, and another 12 are holding down part-time jobs. The money crunch has delayed several students from getting a degree, and most will leave school with $10,000 to $50,000 in debt. They are among the majority of Colorado college students who struggle to finance their educations."

    My God! What has the world come to? College students having to work their way through school like some of the rest of us. The horror. The horror. Please, as rapidly as possible create a nanny-state wherein all your needs and desires are provided by the government. Thank you, Rill Bitter, thank you....

    Um, scholarship money isn't the biggest funding issue for colleges and universities in the state. Nice that it buys you votes and all, but the game needs to be played on the other field.

  • May 3, 2008

    9:16 a.m.

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    socrates writes:

    Benson's response is so typical. Here's an institution that increased tuition almost 10% this year. They have to compete for their student body - if they can do that, then they'll benefit from this investment in Colorado kids.

    But he and McCallin (who used to work for Bill Owens) don't want to compete for those kids - they want a handout instead.

    I agree that we should increase funding for higher education, but to deny that these constant increases in tuition aren't hurting Colorado kids who are seeing education move farther out of reach is just crazy.

    We drive our next generation away from the opportunities of higher education at our own peril. This is the workforce of the future. Benson should recognize that all kids in Colorado aren't multi-millionaires like him, but they deserve an opportunity to succeed nonetheless.

  • May 3, 2008

    9:29 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    samsmargolis writes:

    froward - see if you're a true Obama loyalist:

    http://politicalhumor.about.com/libra...

    Make sure to post your score for everyone...

  • May 3, 2008

    10 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    infidel91 writes:

    "Y'know Mike, I think your "college is not a right" attitude is the problem. Maybe it should be, and maybe that's part of the promise of the Founders, the part about all of us being created equal, y'know?"

    How can anyone have a "right" to a good or service that must be produced by someone else? If people had a "right" to college, couldn't we then force professors and administrators to work for free? After all, it would violate students' "rights" to require them to pay for something they're entitled to.

    And to suggest that the founding fathers meant anything of the sort is preposterous.

  • May 3, 2008

    3:36 p.m.

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    samsmargolis writes:

    180 degrees away from Obama...right where I wanted to be.

  • May 4, 2008

    1:39 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Monica030 writes:

    Instead, lets waste taxpayers money by sending people to Iraq. Great point.

  • May 4, 2008

    4:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    student4life writes:

    Tommy, the Army brainwashed you. You call everyone who doesn't support your narrow view of patriotism a parasite.

    Look at you now, you don't even think Americans deserve to be educated. As our country falls behind the rest of the world in education where is your patriotism?

    Isn't patriotism wanting our country and the citizens of this country to succeed in all aspect of the global competition? or is patriotism only wanting our country to succeed in our militaristic quest for oil?

    I will give it to you many in college do not fulfill the full opportunity afforded to them, but many do, and many of those that do, have not been in the military, and according to you "are not real men".

    If you were a real patriot, you would want more money to go to schools regardless of the percentage that is wasted on those do not excel as well they should. (look at the money wasted on the "virtual fence"; on hundreds of government contract in Iraq that were simmply never built).